Jena Weed, RN

Jena was an exceptionally compassionate clinical student. There were many occasions when the nurses and nursing assistants would complement her on her collaboration, communication and caring nature. One example of her demonstration of the caring behaviors we expect to see in nursing was observed with a long-term client. Week after week I would assign a student to a non-verbal client who suffered from a brain injury. He was a great learning experience and the students learned and performed the necessary tasks to appropriately care for him, but Jena went above and beyond the nursing orders. She treated him like a person, like someone she cared about. Jena showed him empathy and compassion through her words and actions. She talked to him as though he would talk back to her, as though he understood her, and this talent came naturally to her. She would often help her peers when others were assigned to him during our weeks together. She was committed to listening and engaging in therapeutic communication with her clients. She would often check in with previous clients if they were still on the unit even though she was no longer assigned to them, offering them kind words of encouragement.