Bryan Fender, BSN, RN, CCRN, is a nurse on 4G, Presby’s Neuro Trauma ICU. He has been since 2006. Bryan works night shift. He always has. Bryan is someone who likes to keep things really simple. He shows up on time for his shifts, takes care of his patients, checks in on his team, signs out his patients, and goes home. At least that’s how he would describe himself if asked. He’d tell you he isn’t anyone special. But Bryan is one of those nurses you can’t imagine not working on 4G. In a million simple ways, he consistently shows up for his team and his patients – no matter the time or place. 

Here’s just one example: A few weeks ago, Bryan was 4G’s Charge Nurse out of staffing. The unit had just changed shifts, all the nurses had gotten report, and Bryan was just checking on the assignments. The unit got a call that our neighbors in the NICU were short a nurse and asked if 4G could help cover an assignment for a few hours. We don’t usually have Charge Nurses go off the unit, and a lot of nurses don’t like leaving their home unit, but Bryan volunteered to go so the 4G patients didn’t have to change nurses. So, he headed off to the NICU. 

A few minutes later Bryan checks in with 4G: he’d gone upstairs and wasn’t sure he was in the right place. He’d spoken with the charge nurse who was surprised to see him, but asked him to help one of their new nurses down the hall. The nurse was busy! She had five sick patients with an admission coming – a strange assignment for an ICU. It turns out Bryan took a wrong turn. He was on the neurotrauma floor, not the Neuro ICU. 

Bryan apologized and headed over to the NICU. About 10 minutes later, Bryan calls back to 4G: the NICU had reorganized their assignments and had a nurse coming in. They were good for the shift and Bryan could head back downstairs. Most nurses would have sprinted back to their home unit. A nurse’s home unit is where they’re most comfortable. They know where the supplies are, which phone numbers to use, and everybody’s names. Bryan isn’t most nurses. 

“Hey, so the NICU is all covered, but is it all right if I go back to 5G and help them pass some meds and settle down for the night? The nurse I talked to is new and seemed like she could use the help,” he said. 
He did just that. 

Bryan shows up when people need him. Even when they’re out of his division, off his floor, on a unit he’d never been to, with nurses he’d never met. He’s extraordinary. 

When you ask him about that night, he’ll crack a self-effacing joke about how he wound up on the wrong unit. He doesn’t mention the hours he spent supporting another unit’s patients. Bryan does this sort of thing all the time! To him, it’s ordinary; nothing extra about it. 
Bryan is one of those nurses you can’t imagine not working on 4G. Every night, in a million little ways, he makes an enormous difference in the lives of his team and the lives of his patients – no matter where they are!