"I am Professional"

Holly has been a professional since the day I met her when she was working for our CCN program at SSM and I was a "baby" nurse in home care.  I learned from her even then with her wealth of knowledge and experience.  She has worked in home care locally and even in Las Vegas and has many experiences to share as she is a preceptor and mentor.  She is always professional and knowledgeable, and is one of our main preceptors for any new staff.  She has done this for many years.  She has also been on different meetings to represent us as a team recently.

"I am an Advocate" 

Holly is the epitome of an advocate for all of her patients.  She can take the most complex patient and make sure they are advocated for from day one whether that means being in contact with their MD, wound center, other ancillary providers and/or teammates.  She had a very ill MS patient for many years (over 5 years) who had extensive wound care, a trach, tube feed, etc.  Holly saw this patient up to 3 times per week for many years, was a huge advocate for him when he needed to be hospitalized, and had rapport that could not be matched with his brother, who was his primary caregiver.  She also advocated for a pediatric patient in the last year who needed to go back to St. Louis.  This child was very fragile.  Holly called 911 and coordinated with them to be able to land a helicopter in this family's back yard/field by their house so this child could be FLOWN out.  I do not know of ANY other nurses who have ever done this in my career.  She saved that little girl's life and I want to be sure someone other than our local staff remembers this.  This is just a very short summary and glimpse of what this nurse is capable of.  She is a huge part of the core and success of our branch.

"I am a Partner" 

Holly partners with patients, families, brothers, sisters, parents, etc.  She will know the entire family before the patient is discharged if it means they were involved in the patient's care.  She partners with her teammates and is always sure to give a full report to teammates if she is going to be on vacation.  We always know exactly what is going on with each and every one of her patients.  My above example of her coordinating with a very ill MS patient's brother to provide beyond exceptional care in their home for many years, is how being a partner should be.  She worked with the brother, and numerous other caregivers in this home along the way to make sure this patient never went to the nursing home and was able to stay at home until he passed last year.

"I am Accountable" 

Holly is quick to speak up at meetings about any issues nursing staff have.  She asks all of the questions that we all want to ask and can be afraid to bring up.  She is quick to bring up concerns and safety issues in staff meetings and on huddle as she sees issues.  She was an EPIC Superuser when that launched at our branch as well.  If you are looking for someone to be accountable, Holly is your girl.  
 
"I am a Leader" 
 
Holly upholds our mission every day while also providing exceptional care to her patients, precepts new staff, participates in other committees, etc.  She cares for our patients as if they are family and has a special gift of building rapport with patients/families.  She covers a large south territory and does it with grace and perseverance.  Many patients request to have her back as their nurse.  She is quick to ask staff to "get together" and attend team-building outings, and she attends as many as she can.  These are so important in home care because we do not all see each other every day like a team in an office or inpatient setting does.  She recently helped coordinate a community outreach project last fall collecting non-perishable food for her local boy scout troop and delivered all the collections to them from our Mt. Vernon office.  Holly has also agreed to be our surrogate supervisor for many years if needed.

Holly deserves this award as there is no other nurse like her.  She is exceptional beyond her years spent with us in SSM Home Care.  She has worked OB, Home Care in Las Vegas, she worked for our CCN program, and we are so honored to have her on our home care team in Mt. Vernon.  She is an advocate for all of her patients, but specifically, she deserves special credit for some long-term, very ill, complex patients that she has cared for over the years.  She knows who they are, and so does her local team.  We are forever grateful for the care she has given them.  She has a special way of building unmatched rapport with families.   Her knowledge base and assessment skills are impeccable.  One time, she knew a baby she was seeing was not doing well.  Holly was able to call 911 and coordinate to land a helicopter in the backyard/field behind the patient's home to get this child to St. Louis as quickly as possible.  That story alone deserves serious recognition.  I have never seen this done in my career.  She is and has been a fabulous preceptor for many years and is quick to say "yes" if we have a new staff member who needs to be trained.  We all have learned something from her over the years.  She is quick to speak up if she sees a concern or knows issues need to be addressed by the staff during a huddle or a staff meeting.  She participates on committees and was an EPIC Superuser and is recently participating on a medication reconciliation committee for home care.  She is core to our team and nobody could ever replace our girl.  She is also hilarious, a friend to all, and always willing to share a story about her day to change the mood.  I am honored to not just call her a just colleague or an amazing nurse, but also my friend.