I would like to recognize Katie for her dedication to a caring profession. Katie started here as a unit secretary. It was then that I knew that Katie had leadership in her future. She maintained full time work and completed nursing school. Once she became an RN, she took to the job like she had done it for years. She has a distinctive ability to listen, care, and advocate for her patients.
Katie continues to advance her career in nursing. After her first 6 months, she was ready to become a CRM RN. After all, she was a Monitor Tech prior to being an RN. She was successful in the transition.
Katie also brings her ability to listen to our patients' stories and create a Simply Better experience every time. If I think back to the most recent unit celebrations, Katie was right there in the center and leading the way. First, in 2017 she took care of our 3E Simply Better Award Patient. She was part of the team that looked past a rough exterior to get to know the patient that the team became so fond of. Next, in 2018 Katie was part of the team that helped our patient have a 3E wedding. She was the RN for the patient and worked with the other team members to make sure that this patient had his wedding. She had to coordinate with the family as well as the surgeon and OR team to make sure that the patient could get married as planned and make it to OR. And finally, just last month I received a wonderful story that acknowledged Katie's compassion, advocacy, knowledge, and Simply Better care from one of our physicians.
The list can go on. In short, Katie Schmidt is a true DAISY Nurse.
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Katie is a GREAT example of today's society of people caring and medical staffing. I think Katie is a once in a lifetime experience. She is caring, understanding, explains, and connects with patients and families. Katie would get the pain under control. Not all patients have the same pain tolerance and need nurses to listen to the patient.
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Today Katie was vital in handling a critically ill patient. She helped talk to the family and helped change the patient to comfort care, so she could pass peacefully and comfortably. She displayed true compassion.
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I wanted to take a second to express how great it is to work with great staff. I had a challenging case on 3 East with a sick patient who spoke little English. I recognize we can use the translator line as needed but sometimes it lacks a personal touch, which is critical when discussing end of life matters.
Kathryn Schmidt (Katie RN to us) was taking care of my patient. She helped facilitate a challenging and personal conversation with her MA and they both sat at the bedside to help me discuss the patient's goals of care. This conversation was just to set the tone for the patient and family expectations.
They were both helpful, generous of their time (the meeting took almost 20 minutes) and comforting advocates for their patient. Katie was quite detailed in her understanding of the complex nuances of her patient's prognosis. I have known Katie for years now, and I've been lucky to see her develop from a unit secretary to an amazing bedside nurse. I am confident I have not seen her reach her final role for our enterprise yet.