Carmen is detail-oriented, organized, and has real tenacity for follow-through. A patient recently sent a disc of MRI images done at an outside facility. The disk never was received by the facility and Carmen asked the patient to have the disk sent again. After several days, Carmen went on the hunt for the disk again. She was able to determine that it had been delivered to the mailroom by Federal Express after much investigation. She went to the mailroom several times in search of the disk of images and was finally able to get her hands on it so that it could be uploaded into the patient's electronic medical record and so that he could receive the care that he needed. A true example of advocacy!
The clinic Carmen works in is a teaching clinic with 58 residents intermittently in the clinic when they are not working in the inpatient areas. All Ambulatory Care RNs are essential to keeping the clinic well-oiled and keeping the patients moving forward. This proved to be especially true during March, April, and May when the residents were pulled to the inpatient areas for COVID coverage, leaving fewer residents in the outpatient clinics. Carmen knows her patients well and was able to be that clue to hold the clinic together during a rapidly spreading pandemic.
When Carmen is aware of labs that have been ordered, she monitors for the results and immediately alerts the providers when tests have resulted. She has a calm and soothing demeanor with her patients and is known by all to be an educator and advisor for her patients. She is aware of their life stressors which are impacting their health and is sensitive to those needs as well. She consistently demonstrates the desire to improve the care provided in the clinic and ensures optimal care is provided to our Veterans. She exemplifies the ICARE values. Veterans consistently report that she is caring, selfless, responsive to all of their needs and that she has made a significant impact on their lives and their health.