Jennifer Gish
April 2023
Jennifer
Gish
,
BSN, RN
Neuroscience Critical Care Unit
Penn State Health- Milton S. Hershey Medical Center
Hershey
,
PA
United States
Jen was frequently in the patient's room speaking with her and setting expectations as a leader. She set the tone that aggressive and violent behavior toward the staff would not be tolerated.
Jen is the Nurse Manager of the Neuroscience Critical Care Unit (NCCU). There are many ways that Jen is deserving of this award. We recently had an experience with a challenging patient that inspired her nomination for this award.
NCCU cares for a variety of challenging and rewarding patient populations, this includes patients with a propensity toward physical aggression. These patients are especially challenging for staff due to the risk of harm and the unpredictable nature of their behavior. Recently NCCU cared for a young woman who was impulsive and violent. Despite efforts to try and control the patient's aggression, several staff members were hurt. Jen worked tirelessly with the interprofessional team to create a plan to keep everyone safe and help the patient. The plan was thorough and easy to follow for staff that were not experienced with violent patients or were caring for the patient for the first time. She was considerate of the Patient Safety Companions and Patient Care Assistants that were with the patient providing direct observation.
The plan was to work with the patient every two hours by attempting to take one restraint off. The patient needed to continue to demonstrate safe and appropriate behaviors to progress through the plan and be unrestrained. Jen educated staff to be aware of manipulative behaviors and to remember to plan their care in a way that they could easily remove themselves if the patient became aggressive. She printed the plan and reviewed it with the patient. Knowing what to do was easily accessible to all staff. Jen was frequently in the patient's room speaking with her and setting expectations as a leader. She set the tone that aggressive and violent behavior toward the staff would not be tolerated. Jen led the interprofessional team- guiding and directing all team members on how to care for this patient.
Jen was very supportive of the follow-up that the staff who were assaulted needed. She reached out to them directly and let them know that she was behind their decisions. These experiences can be overwhelming and the staff knew Jen would walk with them through the next steps. Jen maintains her composure in these difficult situations. She shows up for her team and they are extremely grateful to have her as their leader. While this was one example of Jen's exceptional leadership, there are many more that could be shared.
NCCU cares for a variety of challenging and rewarding patient populations, this includes patients with a propensity toward physical aggression. These patients are especially challenging for staff due to the risk of harm and the unpredictable nature of their behavior. Recently NCCU cared for a young woman who was impulsive and violent. Despite efforts to try and control the patient's aggression, several staff members were hurt. Jen worked tirelessly with the interprofessional team to create a plan to keep everyone safe and help the patient. The plan was thorough and easy to follow for staff that were not experienced with violent patients or were caring for the patient for the first time. She was considerate of the Patient Safety Companions and Patient Care Assistants that were with the patient providing direct observation.
The plan was to work with the patient every two hours by attempting to take one restraint off. The patient needed to continue to demonstrate safe and appropriate behaviors to progress through the plan and be unrestrained. Jen educated staff to be aware of manipulative behaviors and to remember to plan their care in a way that they could easily remove themselves if the patient became aggressive. She printed the plan and reviewed it with the patient. Knowing what to do was easily accessible to all staff. Jen was frequently in the patient's room speaking with her and setting expectations as a leader. She set the tone that aggressive and violent behavior toward the staff would not be tolerated. Jen led the interprofessional team- guiding and directing all team members on how to care for this patient.
Jen was very supportive of the follow-up that the staff who were assaulted needed. She reached out to them directly and let them know that she was behind their decisions. These experiences can be overwhelming and the staff knew Jen would walk with them through the next steps. Jen maintains her composure in these difficult situations. She shows up for her team and they are extremely grateful to have her as their leader. While this was one example of Jen's exceptional leadership, there are many more that could be shared.