A patient contacted the office stating she had her baby less than a week ago and wanted to harm herself. Elizabeth stayed on the phone with the patient for over an hour. The RN tried to get the patient to go to the ER. The patient declined saying her husband was coming home from work. The RN stayed on the phone talking about the baby, the cold weather, vacations, breastfeeding, etc. Elizabeth did everything that she could to keep the patient talking and engaged in the conversation.

The patient hung up the phone twice while speaking with the nurse. The nurse immediately contacted the patient back and gave her a direct extension. I sat there and was in awe of how Elizabeth handled this stressful situation. The nurse stayed on the phone until the husband got home, over an hour later. She spoke to the husband who brought the patient into the office to be seen and get the help she needed. This nurse is very busy, and the fact that she understood that this patient needed her more than she needed to get other work done, to me, shows what a great nurse she is.