Jill's exemplary clinical nursing skills and compassionate care signify what an outstanding nurse should be and serve as a role model for all (patients, families and hospital staff) to strive to emulate and see in a nurse.
Without a doubt, Jill Skorupa demonstrated during my husband's 10 day or so hospitalization that she is a true DAISY Nurse. She by far excels in all of the stated categories.
Uncompromising commitment to compassionate, ethical and quality patient care. From our initial encounter with Jill Skorupa and throughout my husband's stay she demonstrated that she was committed to doing everything within her power to make sure that he had everything he needed for treating his whole person needs. Specifically, she treated my husband and my family and the church community who visited him with respect. Even though he had a stroke and severe pneumonia and was barely conscious upon his arrival and most of his stay, she still talked to him, encouraged him and made sure she notified the doctor if there were any health changes that required or necessitated changes in his treatment regimen. She was kind and compassionate and thus had a calming effect on his emotional wellbeing. She always spoke positively and respected the fact that we had a strong religious belief and were praying for him. Whether she shared our specific religious beliefs or not, she respected ours. She made sure she knew who was present before she spoke about his medical condition in public. As a lawyer, I greatly appreciated her ethical considerations in maintaining patient confidentiality.
Dedication to extraordinary service with each opportunity. One of the things that warmed my heart and filled it with gratitude was the fact that my husband's condition rendered him urine and bowel incontinent. Therefore, she alone or with others had to make sure he was clean and dry. She consistently checked to make sure he was dry and clean. Moreover, he had to be turned in bed every two hours. She checked to make sure he was comfortable at all times. Her service was extraordinary not only because she served my husband so well, but her extraordinary service extended beyond him to our family. She always checked and inquired if there was anything she could get us. This sometimes included warm blankets because I spent the whole day in his room. Due to my husband's rapidly changing condition, I was there basically all day and night. Her extraordinary service with each opportunity was such that she remained constant. Her excellent care never diminished, her positive attitude never changed.
Commitment to enhancing Quality of Life. Although all of the criteria are important, this one speaks volumes of the nurse's character, clinical skills and compassionate care and concern for others. In my husband's case, she consistently encouraged him with his improving health status. She talked to him even though he couldn't respond back. She always kept him informed and advised about his treatment. In essence, she was determined to make sure that he felt like he was important and that his condition was of great concern for her at all times. As stated earlier, when his condition required that he needed cleaning from incontinence, she maintained his dignity and she did it with skill, grace, and compassion. His room never smelled; she kept the soiled bedding and trash removed so that his room was fresh. She knew that he is a Pastor and his family, friends, and community refer to him as such, so she did likewise. She was always sensitive to his change in condition, so if he was uncomfortably positioned or in pain, she did whatever was necessary and appropriate to improve the situation, both of which enhanced his quality of life during his illness. When she had to clean him up she maintained his dignity by keeping his body exposure to a minimum.
Respect for everyone. Not that it is important and it certainly did not make a difference in terms of how Jill treated my husband, our family and church community, we are of a different racial background than Jill. We were so thankful and humble to watch how Jill cared so respectfully, so compassionately cared for my husband and treated him with such respect and dignity in his condition. She treated us like her own family it seems. She certainly lived out the Golden Rule, do unto others as you would have others do unto you, treat others like you want to be treated. That she did!! She gave respect and we gladly gave it back to her.
I cannot convey in words the gratitude, the lessons we learned having Jill as my husband's nurse. We will always remember her and be thankful that there are dedicated, highly skilled, compassionate, ethical, respectful nurses who take pride in providing extraordinary care to enhance a patient's quality of life during their illness. We know that no matter what happens, Jill made my husband's life and ours so much better during a difficult time. May her light of humanity and civility forever shine brightly.