James (Jim)
Conwell
September 2010
James (Jim)
Conwell
,
RN
Clinical Resource Unit (Float team)
Iowa City
,
IA
United States

 

 

 

Jim was the nurse for my brother, Christopher Roberts, in the SICU and on 4 JPE. My brother has been diagnosed with terminal cancer & Jim had helped make his, and our, stay more tolerable and pleasant. Jim has one of the most admirable philosophies of nursing that I have ever seen. Jim always seemed to put the patient first, no matter what. For example, when Christ was on 4 JPE & had not been able to take a shower in 2 weeks due to his mobility problems & the size of the shower, Jim had offered to arrange for him to shower on a different floor which had a much larger shower & removable shower head. This in itself showed that Jim was willing to take the extra step for him; however, in the afternoon Jim had gotten floated to the burn unit and would no longer be his nurse. Instead of just forgetting about the shower or passing it on to someone else, Jim told him to call him on the burn unit when he was ready & he would assist him. Even though Chris was no longer a patient of his, Jim still went above and beyond to give Chris his shower. While I sat outside the shower I heard Jim get a lot of grief from the other nurses for letting him do this. I was very disappointed in the other nurses but Jim didn’t seem to mind because he knew he was doing what was best for Chris. A shower may seem like a little thing to most people, but it meant the world to my brother. Jim is a true patient advocate and an excellent example of what it means to be a nurse. It is with greatest pleasure for my family and me to nominate Jim for this award. Thank you.