Time and time again this wonderful nurse has shown great poise and professionalism in her everyday work life. Heather consistently puts the needs of her patients, coworkers, and unit above her own. She is always willing to take students and gives them a fantastic experience each time she does. Her thoughtfulness for her coworkers is astounding. She is a pleasure to work with and brings a lot of light to the department.
On one particular day, Heather came into work on her day off with an armful of pizzas for the staff to enjoy. I remarked to the Supervisor, "Wow, that's so nice of her to do for the staff." This nurse then told me the story. She had said that they were from one of our long-term patients, who had finally been discharged and been sent to a group home. She delivered them to the staff and left. I learned later that the patient was a young wheelchair-bound person that required total needs and had no resources at all.
When he was finally accepted by his group home, which could handle his special needs, he was so excited that he wanted to throw a pizza party for all the nurses on the unit. The only problem was, he didn't have the financial resources to make this happen. This special nurse went out of her way to buy pizzas for everyone on the unit and brought them up on her day off. Heather humbly told us it was from the long-term patient, but the truth was that this nurse went out of her way to make this patient's wish come true. This selfless caring act, which made the patient smile all day, is one of the ways that nurses can heal the soul, with no meds, no surgery, no dressings, just love.