Jackie was working an eight-hour shift in the NICU, and one of her patients was scheduled to go home that day with a g-tube, and an enteral feeding pump. The parents had received training on the pump prior to discharge, but Mom relayed to her social worker that she was very nervous about going home with the pump and that she was fearful of making a mistake. When this information was relayed to Jackie, and that the parents were on their way to the hospital to prepare for discharge, Jackie was waiting to assist them when they arrived. Although her shift had ended by the time the parents arrived, she stayed with Mom to go over all of the teaching and assisted Mom and Dad in writing down all of the information they would need to do all of the baby's care. Jackie's ability to work one on one with this family and Jackie's skill in working with this mother gave this mother (who had a complicated personal history) peace of mind and the confidence for her to be able to feel very comfortable with the discharge.
In addition to Jackie's care and concern for this family on the day of discharge from the NICU, she followed up with me as the discharge planner knowing that I would be in contact with the family after discharge to make sure that everything was going well with the family after discharge. Jackie showed excellent care of this patient and family, she worked with the team to ensure a safe discharge for this patient, and she demonstrated personal responsibility and integrity in making sure her patient and family were taken care of prior to discharge home. I am proud to be a co-worker to someone who is so dedicated to her job, patients and families.