Briana Thompson
April 2023
Briana
Thompson
,
RN
100 South
CHI Memorial Hospital
Chattanooga
,
TN
United States
What amazes me about Briana is how she is able to provide such personalized, emotionally intelligent care while still doing the very hard job of nursing and accomplishing it in a timely, proficient way.
Briana, a nurse who works on the first floor in the stroke and neuroscience telemetry unit, took care of my mother after she was admitted in March of 2023. During the three days that Briana cared for my mother, it was evident to me that nursing is her life calling. First, for Briana's kindness, which is absolutely essential in this field. On one occasion when she discovered that my mother was in pain, Briana was visibly upset and immediately, to my relief, addressed the situation. On another day, Briana made a point to come to check on her at the end of their shift, saying that she hadn’t heard anything for a while, and just wanted to make sure everything was OK.
Briana's communication skills are also excellent. She explains things very clearly and states exactly what she is going to do and when she will do it. This skill is indispensable for a nurse because patients and their families are often confused and upset; in such situations, even the smallest amount of clarity helps.
Another piece of competence is knowing where one’s area of expertise ends. By this, I mean that Briana always took the time to answer our questions, but would admit if she didn’t know the answer and would then say she would find out. She never over-promised on anything either, understanding that her purview as a nurse extends only so far. And yet at the same time, she never discounted out of hand any concerns or questions that we had.
My mother and Briana also talked a lot about Briana's little girl. Those conversations were splashes of sunshine that made so much of a difference to my mother’s stay, bringing hope and joy into a difficult time. As my mother in turn shared about her own life, not only did Briana never seem impatient; she focused entirely on my mother as if she were the only person in the world. What amazes me about Briana is how she is able to provide such personalized, emotionally intelligent care while still doing the very hard job of nursing and accomplishing it in a timely, proficient way. Somehow she balances it all, making everyone feel special with her wide smile. With her perfect mix of skills, I always had 100% faith that if something needed to be done she was the one to do it. Coming in on any given day and hearing that she was my mother’s nurse, I knew everything would go well and that my mother would be happy and safe. For a family member, this is huge.
Over the past 20 years of my elderly parents’ multiple hospitalizations, I have been in and out of Memorial. Across the board, I have been very happy with the superior quality of care. On top of that, having several family and friends in the medical field - including my mother who was a nurse at Memorial for several years in the 2000s - I know how hard the job is and what an excellent nurse looks like. Briana is one such individual.
Briana's communication skills are also excellent. She explains things very clearly and states exactly what she is going to do and when she will do it. This skill is indispensable for a nurse because patients and their families are often confused and upset; in such situations, even the smallest amount of clarity helps.
Another piece of competence is knowing where one’s area of expertise ends. By this, I mean that Briana always took the time to answer our questions, but would admit if she didn’t know the answer and would then say she would find out. She never over-promised on anything either, understanding that her purview as a nurse extends only so far. And yet at the same time, she never discounted out of hand any concerns or questions that we had.
My mother and Briana also talked a lot about Briana's little girl. Those conversations were splashes of sunshine that made so much of a difference to my mother’s stay, bringing hope and joy into a difficult time. As my mother in turn shared about her own life, not only did Briana never seem impatient; she focused entirely on my mother as if she were the only person in the world. What amazes me about Briana is how she is able to provide such personalized, emotionally intelligent care while still doing the very hard job of nursing and accomplishing it in a timely, proficient way. Somehow she balances it all, making everyone feel special with her wide smile. With her perfect mix of skills, I always had 100% faith that if something needed to be done she was the one to do it. Coming in on any given day and hearing that she was my mother’s nurse, I knew everything would go well and that my mother would be happy and safe. For a family member, this is huge.
Over the past 20 years of my elderly parents’ multiple hospitalizations, I have been in and out of Memorial. Across the board, I have been very happy with the superior quality of care. On top of that, having several family and friends in the medical field - including my mother who was a nurse at Memorial for several years in the 2000s - I know how hard the job is and what an excellent nurse looks like. Briana is one such individual.