September 2021
Jennifer
Clarke
,
RN
ICU
HCA West Florida Blake Medical Center
Bradenton
,
FL
United States
Jennifer took the time to cut out one of the characters, tie it, and use supplies to stuff it in order to make it into a stuffed animal she could hold.
Jennifer Clarke is a new nurse to our ICU who came through the StaRN program. Jennifer was working the night shift recently where she had a Covid patient come up from the ED from a nursing home. The patient was young, had cerebral palsy, and was severely cognitively impaired. The patient was placed on Bipap and was very scared. Jennifer found the clothes that were cut off of her in the ED which had some cartoon characters on the front of them. Jennifer took the time to cut out one of the characters, tie it, and use supplies to stuff it in order to make it into a stuffed animal she could hold. When I came into work in the morning and looked in the patient's window, the patient was holding and snuggling the stuffed animal. ICU is a busy and tough unit to work on with the influx of Covid patients, yet Jennifer took the time to do this for her patient. We can teach hundreds of nursing skills, but what Jennifer did is something that cannot be taught, it came from her heart. I am proud to work alongside a nurse like Jennifer.