Jennifer Roach
June 2019
Jennifer
Roach
,
RN, CMSRN
3 West
Jefferson Washington Township Hospital
Stratford
,
NJ
United States
It can be intimidating entering a new unit as a student nurse, questions abound: will the staff be nice? Will someone show me around? How can I make a difference and not seem like a hindrance? These are some of the thoughts that ran through my mind as I prepared to start my Transition to Practice course on the ACE unit at Jefferson Stratford.
However, these thoughts were quickly extinguished on the first day when I began working with Jenn. She quickly took me under her wing, modeling the exceptional nursing behaviors that have become synonymous with the Jefferson name. Jenn's diligence, thoroughness, and reliability cannot be matched.
One memorable night, she went above the call of duty when a patient needed to be cleaned up. Although we had already given the report and could have left, Jenn led by example and stayed to ensure the patient had a complete bed bath and was comfortable prior to leaving the unit for the night. It should be noted that this patient was not assigned to Jenn during her shift, simply a patient in need at that moment. This small act left a smile on the patient's face and he told us that we were vets in his eyes. His gratitude at this moment is something I will never forget and left a lasting impression on me as a student that exceptional care isn't necessarily a single grand act, but a consistent display of compassion, kindness, and doing the right thing when no one is looking. This is just one example of the many examples of how Jenn's exceptional practice was evident in the unit.
Throughout my time there, she displayed teamwork, collaboration, and professionalism with all members of the health care team was clearly a go-to nurse on the unit for skills and questions and challenged me in ways that my professors have not been able too. I believe that everything happens for a reason and I believe I was placed on the unit so that I can model my future practice after Jenn. She showed me the impact that I can have as a nurse, how I plan to treat my patients, and how I plan to pass on wonderful lessons she taught me to future nurses and students alike. It has been my privilege to work alongside her.
However, these thoughts were quickly extinguished on the first day when I began working with Jenn. She quickly took me under her wing, modeling the exceptional nursing behaviors that have become synonymous with the Jefferson name. Jenn's diligence, thoroughness, and reliability cannot be matched.
One memorable night, she went above the call of duty when a patient needed to be cleaned up. Although we had already given the report and could have left, Jenn led by example and stayed to ensure the patient had a complete bed bath and was comfortable prior to leaving the unit for the night. It should be noted that this patient was not assigned to Jenn during her shift, simply a patient in need at that moment. This small act left a smile on the patient's face and he told us that we were vets in his eyes. His gratitude at this moment is something I will never forget and left a lasting impression on me as a student that exceptional care isn't necessarily a single grand act, but a consistent display of compassion, kindness, and doing the right thing when no one is looking. This is just one example of the many examples of how Jenn's exceptional practice was evident in the unit.
Throughout my time there, she displayed teamwork, collaboration, and professionalism with all members of the health care team was clearly a go-to nurse on the unit for skills and questions and challenged me in ways that my professors have not been able too. I believe that everything happens for a reason and I believe I was placed on the unit so that I can model my future practice after Jenn. She showed me the impact that I can have as a nurse, how I plan to treat my patients, and how I plan to pass on wonderful lessons she taught me to future nurses and students alike. It has been my privilege to work alongside her.