Kathy Scheuber, BSN, RN, CSPI, has been a Specialist in Poison Information (SPI) at the Wisconsin Poison Center since 2000, and is viewed as an expert in poison information. She manages all cases with compassion and skill. She has a calm approach and is able to put every anxious parent at ease while she gathers information and makes recommendations. She is just as skillful in following hospital cases, gathering lab results and making treatment recommendations. She is a relief charge person and is very capable of managing all unexpected situations. She is able to keep calm through any stressful situation and makes suggestions for problem resolution that are effective and reliable.
In the past two years, Kathy has precepted several new staff and during that time, her strengths have shined through. She is skillful in taking the new SPI staff through the staged orientation process and quickly recognizes when someone needs more time to understand new learning. Her encouragement provides new employees the confidence to succeed as they make their first attempts at taking real calls. Kathy has taken on the task of updating the calculations exam for all new staff and practices the exam questions with each new person to ensure that he or she is successful in achieving an acceptable score on the first attempt at the exam. She understands adult learning principles and quickly recognizes when she needs to change her teaching approach to ensure success for the new person. She has so much patience and takes her time with each new person. She never makes the new person feel uncomfortable or anxious. At the end of each shift she completes an in depth evaluation of the orientee's learning that includes strengths and weakness along with identified opportunities for the next learning session.
As previously mentioned, Kathy's skill includes her clinical expertise and years of experience in toxicology. But it goes way beyond that. Her patience and gentle spirit gives new orientees the ability to learn in their own way and give them confidence that they can learn everything they need to know in a relatively short amount of time. Her spirit of collaboration and mentorship extends to those with more tenure who need help managing a patient with a complex toxic exposure.
She has compassion not only for her patients but also her peers when they need a kind word or a check in. She is appreciated by her leaders for her ability to accept change and see the good in every situation.