Brittany Dobbins
December 2020
Brittany
Dobbins
,
RN
Brenner's Children
Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center
Winston Salem
,
NC
United States
Brittany has been his “lifeline” in times he has needed it most and I have no doubt that she has added years to his life and made him feel loved and cared for by this hospital.
Brittany is an irreplaceable part of our team. We have daily examples of how this nurse goes above and beyond for her patients and their families. Such as the relationship she builds with patients over time and the trust that builds to impact their care.
One example is a 19-year-old male who has had a complex chronic illness since he was in elementary school. He had a complex social situation with a single, aging, great-grandmother as his guardian. Brittany began caring for him as a nurse in our unit 10 years ago. He has frequent readmissions, complex medical technology at home and at school, no private duty nursing secondary to the pandemic, and his family also has knowledge deficits. Over the years I have seen this nurse go above and beyond to write letters of medical necessity, advocate for a second ventilator at school so that he could be fully present during school. She always visits him in the ED, brings him salt-free snack options of his favorite chips, visits him on the floor even though her role is now outpatient care, and often coordinates multidisciplinary appointments to ease the burden of travel on his family.
This year as the pandemic hit, it was time to transition him to the adult pulmonary team and then his great-grandmother passed away. Brittany advocated for him, lead the team to make decisions that were in his best interest to stay in the department of Pediatrics as we stabilized his care and new family members learn how to best care for him. She has been his “lifeline” in times he has needed it most and I have no doubt that she has added years to his life and made him feel loved and cared for by this hospital.
To add to this story, I want to emphasize that this exemplary care occurs on a daily basis. It is common for this nurse to meet our families outside near their car to obtain trach aspirates or do Covid testing. She will meet our patients/families at a different part of the hospital to do extra teaching or provide supplies. For one of my patients last month, she spent days on the phone with various pharmacies trying to get a medication authorized and sent to the family home. However, she went above and beyond by following up on a Friday night and Saturday when the family still did not have their medication. She is always doing the best thing for our families- setting a standard that the rest of us strive to achieve. I completely trust her clinical judgment and am proud to be a part of her team!
One example is a 19-year-old male who has had a complex chronic illness since he was in elementary school. He had a complex social situation with a single, aging, great-grandmother as his guardian. Brittany began caring for him as a nurse in our unit 10 years ago. He has frequent readmissions, complex medical technology at home and at school, no private duty nursing secondary to the pandemic, and his family also has knowledge deficits. Over the years I have seen this nurse go above and beyond to write letters of medical necessity, advocate for a second ventilator at school so that he could be fully present during school. She always visits him in the ED, brings him salt-free snack options of his favorite chips, visits him on the floor even though her role is now outpatient care, and often coordinates multidisciplinary appointments to ease the burden of travel on his family.
This year as the pandemic hit, it was time to transition him to the adult pulmonary team and then his great-grandmother passed away. Brittany advocated for him, lead the team to make decisions that were in his best interest to stay in the department of Pediatrics as we stabilized his care and new family members learn how to best care for him. She has been his “lifeline” in times he has needed it most and I have no doubt that she has added years to his life and made him feel loved and cared for by this hospital.
To add to this story, I want to emphasize that this exemplary care occurs on a daily basis. It is common for this nurse to meet our families outside near their car to obtain trach aspirates or do Covid testing. She will meet our patients/families at a different part of the hospital to do extra teaching or provide supplies. For one of my patients last month, she spent days on the phone with various pharmacies trying to get a medication authorized and sent to the family home. However, she went above and beyond by following up on a Friday night and Saturday when the family still did not have their medication. She is always doing the best thing for our families- setting a standard that the rest of us strive to achieve. I completely trust her clinical judgment and am proud to be a part of her team!