Laura Walsh
March 2023
Laura
Walsh
,
RN
Neuro Intensive Care Unit
UCSF Medical Center
San Francisco
,
CA
United States
At the last Comfort Care Champion meeting, Laura led the group in meditation to bolster resiliency. We all felt lighter and more grounded afterward and were very grateful to learn a new resiliency strategy.
Laura is a formidable patient and family advocate, an educator for End-of-life care, a pillar of support for nurses, and above all a compassionate, kind, and thoughtful expert clinical nurse. Laura has spearheaded many innovative projects in Neuro ICU. The most recent is “The Good News Update”, whereby Laura reaches out to physicians of patients who have been long-stay patients in Neuro ICU. She gathers information regarding their rehabilitation and progress. Laura has always been passionate about End-of-life (EOL) care, advocating for her patients and their families to have a dignified, respectful, and peaceful experience at EOL. She has been a Comfort Care Champion since 2015.
Not only does she lead by example, but she also mentors her colleagues on best practices for EOL care. Laura is now a Comfort Care Champion Leader, whereby she teaches EOL classes to new staff and runs the Comfort Care Champion bimonthly meetings and biannual training. Her nursing practice continues to grow and evolve. She is recognized as a leader in EOL care in Neuro ICU.
Laura is a skillful communicator. She reaches out to colleagues frequently to check in and nurses reach out to her for her empathetic ear and shoulder to lean on. This comes naturally to Laura. At the last Comfort Care Champion meeting, Laura led the group in meditation to bolster resiliency. We all felt lighter and more grounded afterward and were very grateful to learn a new resiliency strategy. Laura has a heart of gold! She attends to her patient’s and families’ suffering with courage and compassion, holding space for grief and healing simultaneously. She cares deeply for her colleagues and is attuned to their well-being. She combines the art and science of nursing.
She serves as a role model for all of us in Neuro ICU. She is an expert clinician, very knowledgeable and skillful, who treats everyone she meets with compassion and kindness. When I am in charge of making assignments, I know she will apply her communication skills and her brilliant mind. Every shift she works she gives her whole self to advocate for whatever it is that the patient or their family need. I am honored to be her colleague. I have been a nurse for over 25 years, and I haven’t really met a nurse like Laura.
Not only does she lead by example, but she also mentors her colleagues on best practices for EOL care. Laura is now a Comfort Care Champion Leader, whereby she teaches EOL classes to new staff and runs the Comfort Care Champion bimonthly meetings and biannual training. Her nursing practice continues to grow and evolve. She is recognized as a leader in EOL care in Neuro ICU.
Laura is a skillful communicator. She reaches out to colleagues frequently to check in and nurses reach out to her for her empathetic ear and shoulder to lean on. This comes naturally to Laura. At the last Comfort Care Champion meeting, Laura led the group in meditation to bolster resiliency. We all felt lighter and more grounded afterward and were very grateful to learn a new resiliency strategy. Laura has a heart of gold! She attends to her patient’s and families’ suffering with courage and compassion, holding space for grief and healing simultaneously. She cares deeply for her colleagues and is attuned to their well-being. She combines the art and science of nursing.
She serves as a role model for all of us in Neuro ICU. She is an expert clinician, very knowledgeable and skillful, who treats everyone she meets with compassion and kindness. When I am in charge of making assignments, I know she will apply her communication skills and her brilliant mind. Every shift she works she gives her whole self to advocate for whatever it is that the patient or their family need. I am honored to be her colleague. I have been a nurse for over 25 years, and I haven’t really met a nurse like Laura.