Gladys Palacios, RN

As a nurse, Gladys is all that and more. When she is assigned to IR for the day, her calming, nurturing presence is felt from the time she introduces herself to her patients. She allays any anxiety and feelings of apprehension our patients may be feeling by talking them through the procedure, holding their hand to comfort and calming their fears, knowing that she is the only source of comfort at the time, if even for a brief moment that they are in our department. As a team member, Gladys is someone that every unit should be lucky to have. She gladly steps in, without hesitation, to ensure that our nursing tasks are taken care of in a timely manner despite the chaos of our day to day and communicates in a professional and respectful manner to our interdisciplinary team.

Gladys has stopped the line for patients’ safety on many occasions. An example was alerting our Radiologist that a patient had taken his anticoagulant prior to the procedure. The Radiologist cancelled the procedure, and it was then rescheduled. This is Gladys, as a nurse and as an individual. Her character is admirable, and she has been a great asset to our department.