Jordan Short
October 2023
Jordan
Short
,
RN
Emergency Dept
Mercy Hospital St Louis
Saint Louis
,
MO
United States
Throughout her skilled handling of her nursing work, her manner was compassionate. She never cracked under the pressure of everything and treated us like no question was too small.
Both in Jordan’s amazing, confident bedside manner, in her compassion, and her skill, this nurse deserves recognition for being extraordinary.
We first met Jordan when my brother experienced an ischemic attack in April. I believe he was the first patient she had been assigned to who was given TNK.
My brother, healthy and working at 70, experienced aphasia that night. I took him to the Mercy ER and we were triaged, but then his symptoms began to disappear, although his affect remained somewhat flat. Jordan was the nurse who realized he had completely regressed about 4 hours into our ER stay. She acted immediately to call the appropriate people. After the administration of TNK, she was there constantly checking his vitals and administering the cognitive testing. Throughout her skilled handling of her nursing work, her manner was compassionate. She never cracked under the pressure of everything and treated us like no question was too small. She reassured him and talked him through what she was doing, where and why, and who he would see next. She approached her charge nurse to ensure that he was either on the list to get an ICU bed or to find things to make him comfortable. She listened to him struggle to speak, and as his symptoms began to disappear, she gave him constant, encouraging feedback. She reassured him when things were not yet returning to normal and encouraged him to trust the process after TNK was administered. Despite the fact that she was swamped, she found time to get him a warm washcloth and mouth swabs. We found out later that she had only been a nurse for just over a year.
Flashing forward to September, his symptoms reappeared, and once again, we fled to the Mercy ER. The ER was swamped, but the stroke protocols pulled my brother forward to be evaluated. The nursing staff was very clearly struggling and overtaxed. I know that my brother was very frightened and anxious as they indicated he should once again take TNK. After four hours in the ER, Jordan walked through the door and immediately recognized my brother and asked if we remembered her. Of course, we did. She had seen in the notes that my brother needed a second line because the earlier nurse had one line break out of his arm, and two other attempts to put in a line failed. One of those attempts was while the earlier nurse was trying to put a line in his arm while the blood pressure cuff was inflating, and it blew the vein out. Needless to say, my brother was extremely anxious about what was happening when Jordan arrived.
She once again just stepped in and very calmly told him she would get a smaller needle, get the line in, and he shouldn’t worry. She got him situated in the bed and talked to him calmly about the next steps. She assured him that if there was no ICU bed right now, she would find him a more comfortable place for his long-term stay in the ER. She said it with humor, assurance, and compassion. A short time later, an ICU bed was made available, and we expressed our trepidation about leaving her care. She made it clear that the ICU was the place for him to be and that he would receive excellent care there. She bundled up everything he needed and explained the process for when we got up to the ICU. She took us straight up to the ICU herself. I can assure you that she was a big part of his next steps in healing that night.
Sitting in the ICU today, I saw this notice about the DAISY Award, and I realized that this young woman was a candidate because the scripture on the poster describes her exactly.
We first met Jordan when my brother experienced an ischemic attack in April. I believe he was the first patient she had been assigned to who was given TNK.
My brother, healthy and working at 70, experienced aphasia that night. I took him to the Mercy ER and we were triaged, but then his symptoms began to disappear, although his affect remained somewhat flat. Jordan was the nurse who realized he had completely regressed about 4 hours into our ER stay. She acted immediately to call the appropriate people. After the administration of TNK, she was there constantly checking his vitals and administering the cognitive testing. Throughout her skilled handling of her nursing work, her manner was compassionate. She never cracked under the pressure of everything and treated us like no question was too small. She reassured him and talked him through what she was doing, where and why, and who he would see next. She approached her charge nurse to ensure that he was either on the list to get an ICU bed or to find things to make him comfortable. She listened to him struggle to speak, and as his symptoms began to disappear, she gave him constant, encouraging feedback. She reassured him when things were not yet returning to normal and encouraged him to trust the process after TNK was administered. Despite the fact that she was swamped, she found time to get him a warm washcloth and mouth swabs. We found out later that she had only been a nurse for just over a year.
Flashing forward to September, his symptoms reappeared, and once again, we fled to the Mercy ER. The ER was swamped, but the stroke protocols pulled my brother forward to be evaluated. The nursing staff was very clearly struggling and overtaxed. I know that my brother was very frightened and anxious as they indicated he should once again take TNK. After four hours in the ER, Jordan walked through the door and immediately recognized my brother and asked if we remembered her. Of course, we did. She had seen in the notes that my brother needed a second line because the earlier nurse had one line break out of his arm, and two other attempts to put in a line failed. One of those attempts was while the earlier nurse was trying to put a line in his arm while the blood pressure cuff was inflating, and it blew the vein out. Needless to say, my brother was extremely anxious about what was happening when Jordan arrived.
She once again just stepped in and very calmly told him she would get a smaller needle, get the line in, and he shouldn’t worry. She got him situated in the bed and talked to him calmly about the next steps. She assured him that if there was no ICU bed right now, she would find him a more comfortable place for his long-term stay in the ER. She said it with humor, assurance, and compassion. A short time later, an ICU bed was made available, and we expressed our trepidation about leaving her care. She made it clear that the ICU was the place for him to be and that he would receive excellent care there. She bundled up everything he needed and explained the process for when we got up to the ICU. She took us straight up to the ICU herself. I can assure you that she was a big part of his next steps in healing that night.
Sitting in the ICU today, I saw this notice about the DAISY Award, and I realized that this young woman was a candidate because the scripture on the poster describes her exactly.