I had the opportunity to work with Kristina while rotating on the C/L psychiatry service. Kristina was taking care of a patient who had been admitted with an ophthalmologic injury sustained while suffering from a long-standing, chronic, untreated psychotic illness. The patient required eye drops every three hours, as well as psychiatric medications, both of which he was initially declining. Kristina demonstrated an incredibly psychologically minded approach to patient care. She was able to develop a trusting rapport with this patient, who was exhibiting significant signs of paranoia as a symptom of his psychiatric illness. She was able to continuously meet the patient where he was, to the point that he agreed to receive treatment when provided by Kristina. The care and concern she showed for this patient was, quite simply, above and beyond.

Special Connection:

As described above, Kristina's approach to patient care allowed the patient to participate in his own treatment, which likely contributed to saving his eye/vision. The extra time she took to be able to communicate with this patient allowed the team to provide the required care in the least restrictive way. She significantly minimized unnecessary confrontation and the use of restraints in a patient who was struggling with severe symptoms of psychosis. She also repeatedly prioritized this patient on consecutive shifts, volunteering to work with him despite the challenges and time required to provide a high level of care to this patient. I am quite certain her involvement with this patient reduced the need for Protective Services and significantly minimized the use of restraints.

Significant Difference:

Kristina advocated for this patient in a way I have not frequently seen in the hospital. In a busy service, there can be an inadvertent tendency to blame patients with severe psychiatric illness for their symptoms, particularly when patients are declining the care that we know might help alleviate many of their distressing symptoms. She provided education to the rest of the floor staff on patient preferences, showing great thoughtfulness in recognizing the extent to which facilitating a calm environment without unnecessary interruptions greatly improved the patient's ability to participate in care and remain calm during a prolonged hospitalization while waiting for an inpatient psychiatric bed. She also understands that communication in a short, direct manner was most likely to be favorably received by the patient, and shared this observation with the rest of the team to improve the patient's overall care.