Fawnya Harris
March 2014
Fawnya
Harris
,
RN
5 North
SSM St. Clare Health Center
Fenton
,
MO
United States

 

 

 

...There has been a patient on 5 North who has been very difficult to say the least. She has been one of those patients whom we have had to "rotate" between nurses because she is trying. The patient unfortunately is very sick and does not have a good knowledge base of the extent of her illness and has made some poor choices in her past thus leading to her current health condition. The patient is very young, has several doctors on her case, has had several procedures while she has been here, has multiple IV starts, blood draws, etc. The patient had been known to refuse medications and procedures in order to get pain medication, trying to "bargain" with the nurses in order to get her way. Plus the patient has already had a lengthy stay here and has a young child at home. It has been difficult taking care of this patient because she is not pleasant, she is demanding in her requests, and can be downright vulgar in her communication and attitude.

Every nurse on the floor has taken turns caring for this patient and in the case when she would refuse medications nurses would just give in to her demands or simply not give her the medication, charting "patient refused." The hospitalists alike have taken turns caring for her because she is very high maintenance.

Fawnya however has excelled taking care of this patient. In fact, the nursing assignments are made with her always being assigned to this patient because Fawnya excels at taking care of her. This patient has actually requested Fawnya daily. She treats all of her patients with the utmost respect, compassion, and sensitivity. This patient has required Fawnya to utilize all of these qualities in taking care of her. The specific instance on why Fawnya deserves the DAISY Award is this:

Every day Fawnya has taken care of this patient, she braided the patient's hair and most specifically took the patients dirty clothes home and washed them and brought them back to her the next day. Fawnya is the mother of 4 children herself and has mentioned in taking care of this patient that feels like this patient could be her own child. The patient in turn has said she feels like Fawnya had been a mother figure to her while being in the hospital. Fawnya has demonstrated and promoted a healing and therapeutic environment for this very sick patient and in turn this patient has responded kindly to her and her attitude has improved. The patient has stated that she is feeling better both physically and mentally because of how well Fawnya has taken care of her.

This poor patient is 26 and had said early in her admission how scared she was. If you would go into her room now, you would see a definite change in the patient's appearance, attitude, and disposition.

Fawnya has been a nurse for 32 years and continues every day to be a positive source of energy every day she works. She takes the time to go that extra mile for her patients, co-workers, and fellow hospital employees. Everyone knows her by name and would agree that she is genuinely kind, generous, and loving in nature. She is a known leader and can take charge in any situation to thus better the nursing unit and patient outcomes. No task is too big or too small for her and she can handle her nursing assignment any day. Fawnya's clinical skills and nursing judgment are exceptional as are her interpersonal relationships and communication skills with fellow nurses, doctors, etc. She has the rare ability to maintain a sense of dignity, hope, and understanding in difficult situations all the while trying to remain light-hearted in order to keep the patient and family calm.

Fawnya is a constant source of thoughtfulness and compassion to all she comes in contact with, but most importantly to her patients and in this situation that is exactly what this young girl needed. This patient responded to Fawnya's kindness and compassion through her nursing care thus making this young girl feel better. If anyone would come see this patient now, it would be agreed that she is feeling better and I truly believe Fawnya's nursing care aided in her recovery.

The DAISY Award Honoree should be someone the patient will not forget. That would be Fawnya Harris. This is a true testament for what the DAISY Award is all about.