Carol has demonstrated unbelievable persistence, compassion, and great clinical decision making while interacting with a very complex patient. This patient has a history of schizophrenia and delusions who was sending over 40 e-mails to the doctor stating concerning content, that required Carol's thoughtfulness, and coordination with other providers due to the content expressed in e-mails. The patient would not agree to come to the clinic for a reassessment. Carol developed trust and established a rapport with this patient and developed a strong therapeutic relationship, by speaking to the patient via phone and developed an appropriate safety and treatment plan. As a result, the patient was evaluated and received the care they needed.
***
Carol has gone above and beyond for nurses and patients in this department. Carol has participated in several committees, to enhance nursing practice such as safety committees, active union steward, professional practice committees and has developed workflows for nurses. In addition, Carol has participated as the RN who provides medication and treatment planning education to patients in our Intensive Outpatient Program, which consists of patients who are chronically mentally ill and/or patients who were recently hospitalized in an acute psychiatric hospital due to recent suicide attempts. She is dedicated to improving patient care and nursing workflows.
***
I have worked with Carol for over a decade and she has continued to provide excellent nursing care to our patients. A specific example is one of our patients who has a history of schizophrenia and receives psychotropic injections on a monthly basis to manage psychosis. Carol has been the nurse to continue to administer the injection and follow this patient's treatment plan, even though she is no longer the primary RN since assignments have changed. She has chosen to do so, because of the trust and rapport she developed with this particular patient and truly enjoys seeing patients progress in our specialty.
***
Carol has worked at the Point Loma Clinic as a Psychiatric RN, for over fifteen years and I have had the pleasure of working with Carol for the past two and a half years.
Ever since I joined this team, Carol has been helpful, welcoming to me when I started here and I can recall several examples that make her a true DAISY Nurse.
Carol has demonstrated treating our members and colleagues with respect and compassion.
Carol has developed strong relationships with her patients and over the years and has walked them through many phases of their lives. She continues to ensure she has a thorough understanding of the patients' needs, in addition to considering the organization's priorities.
Carol considers the business aspect of the organization in addition to the impact on patient care. Carol continues to empathize with patients and their families and will gladly accommodate patients' requests to the best of her ability. Carol continues to have a personal responsibility, to improving performance and has arranged opportunities for ongoing education for Psychiatric nurses, by coordinating all of the quarterly physician-provided nurse education meetings and has advocated for RNs obtaining CEUs for this.
Carol had also taken the role of coordinating with the administration for facilitating quarterly nurse meetings and she also implemented an Orientation Binder for new hire RNs.
Carol continues to be courageous in expressing any concerns on behalf of the patient and nurse colleagues. Carol is knowledgeable, an excellent team player, hard-working and dedicated to helping fellow nurses, physicians, therapists, and clerical staff whenever she is needed and demonstrates a positive attitude in this fast-paced environment.
Lastly, Carol has added the statement below with regards to Psychiatric Nursing practice:
We are master listeners. For every single call, we must be attuned to not only the message we are hearing but the nuance behind what is being said. We are constantly assessing for and ensuring the safety of patients who may not be able to secure that for themselves in times of crisis. Over years, interventions have been provided that stopped a suicidal plan in place.