Ellen is a dialysis nurse who visits our facility to do our inpatient dialysis for our rehabilitation patients. Ellen has made Healthsouth her home. It's rare that an outside vendor creates such a positive impact on a facility as Ellen has. Often time's staff become so concerned with their own daily tasks during their shift that the bustling of an x-ray technician, a home health representative, a consulting physician, etc. becomes just a visitor of the day. Ellen has become like family. Something that I personally love about Ellen is that she is always smiling. As the nursing manager at our facility, I find that a kind smile can mean so very much to the staff, the patients, and their family members. Ellen carries the same values for herself that we believe in, she is consistently comforting, professional, and respectful to everyone she encounters. She is such an excellent representation of Fresenius and they should be so proud to have her on their team, although I feel the luckiest because we get to see her almost seven days a week.

I wanted to add the personal quotes and comments of our staff regarding their relationship with Ellen and how she has impacted their lives. Once word got out around the hospital I started to realize that as strong as Ellen's relationship is with our nursing staff she has also been extremely helpful to our case management department and in rounding, I discovered that our patients have such appreciation for Ellen, as well.

Ellen is an extraordinary nurse. She gives a level of care that I wish all nurses could achieve. She is the type of person who radiates compassion and definitely has made a difference in our facility. She is invested in the care of her patients and strives to make sure their treatment plan is followed through.

Quotes from my staff:

"Over the past year, I have had the honor and privilege of working and learning from Ellen Jung. She has consistently demonstrated true patient-centered care and has inspired me to always practice this way as well. Nurses are not thanked enough for all the things they do, but I want to make sure Ellen knows how much her hard work, compassion, and kindness is appreciated, not just by her patients but by those of us who work alongside her also."

"My favorite thing about Ellen is she goes above and beyond what is expected of her as a dialysis nurse. She calls doctors when there is an issue and is a true problem solver. Just recently she did extensive research for a patient to find out who initially put their peritoneal dialysis catheter in because it had been malfunctioning over and over again. Mind you, she's not a PD nurse. She then arranged an appointment for him to be seen the next day at the office. She wrote all information down on one of her famous post-it notes which she gives the floor nurse after she completes the treatment. She always does pre and post weights! She is kind, compassionate and just plain lovely. Staff and patients both agree we would be lost without her!"

"Ellen is the so pleasant every day when she walks through our front door. Always smiling and saying good morning. She has also gone above and beyond with changing our runtime to accommodate an appointment that conflicts with her schedule. She has also helped with arranging appointments with me for our patients who need to go out for port replacements."

"She's taken the time to explain a lot of things regarding dialysis to me and has been a great mentor."
"I love Ellen! I was pushing a patient down to lunch one day and he was telling me he would love rice for lunch, it's his favorite. Then Ellen passed by and he says, 'she reminds me of rice'. I told her afterward, so now that's our little joke, and now every time I see her smiling face, I want rice for lunch."

"Can we make her employee of the month here too?! We obviously all love her! She even taught our nursing students yesterday everything about dialysis and let them watch her begin a session."

"She knows all our names and says 'Good Morning' every day to us all. She's amazing! I've tried to get her to work full time for us, I even offered her a room in neuro unit since she practically lives here. Oh, and she laughs at all my jokes. She does all she can to help everyone."

"She gets to know all the staff members as well as the patients. She always helps where ever she can. She's even helped hold legs during my wound changes. She's helped boost patients. She's amazing."

"She is a great nurse, effective communicator and always has a smile on her face."

"She is amazing, and we would be lost without her!"

"Ellen looks at all the details related to the patient's dialysis, she is concerned about the current situation and the future. Just today, on her day off, she helped facilitate a dialysis chair for a patient who we were unable to get set up. She makes tremendous strides for our patients.

"I adore her and patients love her."

"Ellen is always smiling and goes out of her way to help."