Elizabeth
Averill
February 2013
Elizabeth
Averill
,
BSN, RNC
Women's/Children's Staffing Pool
Mission Hospital - Asheville
Asheville
,
NC
United States
Elizabeth works for the W/C float pool and NICU is one of the clinical areas in which she works. I have admired Elizabeth’s consistent professional manner and compassionate nursing each time she works with us. One recent example is the following story:
We had a Spanish speaking mom in transition room 9 that was actually another nurse’s patient. Elizabeth noticed this mom in the hall and she inquired if she needed help. The mom complained of a bad headache and then showed Elizabeth pieces of paper that were several prescriptions that were given to her two days earlier when she was an inpatient. The prescriptions were for two antihypertensive medications and two other medications. Elizabeth was concerned that this mom had not been getting her meds, and helped her get to the pharmacy.
The mom returned from the pharmacy and Elizabeth inquired if she had received her meds. The Mom showed her the bag from the pharmacy. Most of us would have been satisfied with that, and carried on with our business but Elizabeth wanted to check the meds and see if the instructions were provided in Spanish. In checking the medications, Elizabeth noticed the quantity on one of the medications was not what was written on the prescription. Elizabeth advocated for this mom and called the pharmacy to inquire about the dose received. The pharmacy stated they instructed the patient that they did not have stock to fill the prescription and she could get the rest of the prescription the next day at no charge. Because of the language barrier, the mom did not understand the instructions.
Without Elizabeth’s intervention, the mom would have thought she was done with the medication and would not have enough medication for her treatment plan. Elizabeth then had the interpreter come up to explain the medications in detail and also to help the mom understand that she needed to go back to the pharmacy the next day to get the remaining medication. I was so impressed with her astuteness in attending to this extremely important intervention for this mom, who did not understand the initial instructions because of her language barrier.
I feel that Elizabeth’s excellence in nursing care goes above and beyond for not only her patients, but for any Mission patient she comes in contact with on her shift.
We had a Spanish speaking mom in transition room 9 that was actually another nurse’s patient. Elizabeth noticed this mom in the hall and she inquired if she needed help. The mom complained of a bad headache and then showed Elizabeth pieces of paper that were several prescriptions that were given to her two days earlier when she was an inpatient. The prescriptions were for two antihypertensive medications and two other medications. Elizabeth was concerned that this mom had not been getting her meds, and helped her get to the pharmacy.
The mom returned from the pharmacy and Elizabeth inquired if she had received her meds. The Mom showed her the bag from the pharmacy. Most of us would have been satisfied with that, and carried on with our business but Elizabeth wanted to check the meds and see if the instructions were provided in Spanish. In checking the medications, Elizabeth noticed the quantity on one of the medications was not what was written on the prescription. Elizabeth advocated for this mom and called the pharmacy to inquire about the dose received. The pharmacy stated they instructed the patient that they did not have stock to fill the prescription and she could get the rest of the prescription the next day at no charge. Because of the language barrier, the mom did not understand the instructions.
Without Elizabeth’s intervention, the mom would have thought she was done with the medication and would not have enough medication for her treatment plan. Elizabeth then had the interpreter come up to explain the medications in detail and also to help the mom understand that she needed to go back to the pharmacy the next day to get the remaining medication. I was so impressed with her astuteness in attending to this extremely important intervention for this mom, who did not understand the initial instructions because of her language barrier.
I feel that Elizabeth’s excellence in nursing care goes above and beyond for not only her patients, but for any Mission patient she comes in contact with on her shift.