Helena Rodriguez, BSN, RN

Helena was my preceptor for my senior practicum during my last semester in nursing school. I have been in nursing school during a time when the profession has seen a massive staffing shortage and I have often questioned my desire to pursue this field, but working was such a positive experience that it brought back a lot of my passion and desire for this field.

Helena’s patient care is exquisite. There was one specific situation, working with a patient on the Autism Spectrum, where I watched her just advocate and accommodate each and every one of the patient’s needs making sure he was happy and as comfortable as possible. When it was time to go for surgery, it was exclaimed, that he has a fear of elevators and would not go down. Instead of putting him in the bed and forcing him to do so, she coordinated a plan to meet his needs. With the help of others, they marched down the stairs with every safety precaution in place ready for surgery. She also made sure that every procedure from vitals to a Covid test was done in a way that the patient would be at ease. She took extra time out of her day to accommodate and advocate for his needs with everyone on the team (even bringing up caution and questions about certain orders the doctors were putting in that might not be the best regarding his condition).

This is one of many instances I watched her go out of her way to advocate for the specific patient's need regardless of how busy she was that day.