Donna Rutherford
April 2018
Donna
Rutherford
,
RN
Acute Care
Dell Seton Medical Center at The University of Texas
Austin
,
TX
United States

 

 

 

As a charge nurse, a lot of what you do goes unnoticed and unappreciated. Charging requires careful planning, organization, clinical judgment, and experience. You worry about all the patients on the floor, HCAHPS, new nurses, staffing, critical medical changes, and everything else that comes up. Donna is truly the best of the best. She is always fair. Her wealth of knowledge is always available to help her staff problem-solve and create alternative options that provide patient safety and satisfaction. If Donna is in charge of something, it gets done correctly. She is always dependable. She is always a patient advocate. She is always looking for the best way to handle a situation. She never stops until the job is done, but she is never too busy to hold the hand of someone who is in pain. She is a wonderful friend and support system for her co-workers. Donna is a huge asset to Seton. She gives her time to take care of this hospital one patient at a time. She has trained most of our staff. I can't ever say thank you enough to her because she has trained me, and I always try to emulate how she would handle a situation. Her dedication and hard work are often overlooked, but I think we should all take a moment to thank her for her contributions.