Erin is the #2 nurse at MCI for the GYN-Oncology team. She is simply good to the bone, and patients and staff adore her; her dedication and devotion to our patients and her team are profoundly felt and known by all. She has been employee of the month here at least twice since I have been here.
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Late on a rainy Friday evening, around 6:30 p.m., we had a patient still here at MCI needing lab work due to a post-op complication ordered by the APP. We could have sent the patient over to the hospital, but Erin drew the blood, walked it over to C/W, and stayed until it was known if this patient needed further evaluation. I believe she and the APP, and myself, plus the patient, were the only ones left in the building. The patient was in pain and bleeding, and Erin had the compassion to not put her through a trip to the hospital.
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This one is incredible. Erin gets to know her patients very well, and there was this one patient who also had diabetes and lived alone with no family here locally. Erin was calling just to check on her, and she did not answer. After multiple calls to this patient, Erin grew concerned and went to the patient’s home. She could see the patient lying on the floor, non-responsive. She broke a window and crawled through to get to the patient, called 911, and basically saved her life from a disease, not cancer-related. We kid her about this, but it honestly just demonstrates and reflects what kind of person and nurse she is, as she would do this for all of our patients.
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Erin works tirelessly to make sure that all patients get the very best care always. She is the nurse who is still here at 6 pm on a Friday, making sure that all patient calls have been returned and all of their needs met. She leads by example and is a role model for all clinic nurses to which few ever achieve.
Her team has had a challenging year with going from 4 GYN oncologists to two and now having to coordinate care with locum physicians. She is known for her calmness and ability to handle any situation with maturity and professionalism. The doctors go to her for guidance and support, and she is always available to make sure that they get the resources they need in order to provide the best care for our patients. She never misses anything, and I never have to worry about anything in GYN-oncology, as I know she has already handled it. She personifies OCD by definition, but in a very good way!
She is part of an extremely busy clinic, averaging over 30 + patients per day. It would be chaotic if not for her ability to multitask, and she is one of the most organized nurses I have ever known. Many of our GYN patients have poor prognoses, and Erin cares so much for our patients with compassion and always has words of encouragement to offer to them. She is the one who prays with them, laughs with them, as well as helps them find hope and the courage to face what is happening as a huge part of their support system. With her calm and confident nature, she also has the ability to handle patients with concerns and/or complaints to find resolutions, and it matters to her that our patients’ needs and expectations are met.
Erin is the epitome of professionalism and truly represents MCI and USA in as perfect a way as anyone could possibly expect. She participates in external activities annually, such as the “Go Run” event each year for cervical cancer awareness, and motivates all of us to be better people in our community. She always has a smile and never ever have I heard one negative comment from this person about anything.
She just takes things in stride and “makes everything work”. She is truly an exceptional person and essential to the success of our GYN oncology cancer program here at MCI.