I have had the pleasure of working with Lauren for 2 years in her role as the Urology NP. She follows the Urology patients closely and does everything she can to have their hospital stay go as smoothly as possible. She implements treatment in her scope of practice and keeps the attending Urologist updated to their patient condition. Her input at multidisciplinary rounds for safe discharges is valued so the safest discharge is coordinated between social work, nursing, urologist, and case management for each patient.
She never considers a patient by the procedure they have had, but instead, as an individual who has specific care needs. She teaches, coaches, and mentors and is a credible resource for patients and colleagues. The staff on 3N value her as a knowledgeable patient care provider and seek her input related to patient care questions.
Lauren and I were involved in the care of a patient with complex urology issues. The patient had a urological procedure in August of 2017 and had many complications. She has essentially been at TMH for 10 months with some minimal time spent at home. Her care needs were numerous, she had complex fistulas which required a sophisticated dressing to suction. Lauren established a special connection with the patient. She watched over her like a mother would watch over a young child. The patient could discuss anything with her, including hopes and fears and if she wanted to keep fighting to live. She demonstrated a caring attitude in all situations, the patient required many MDs to be involved in her care and Lauren coordinated all the care so it was streamlined. Lauren always provided education to the patient and answered all her questions. The patient is an RN and was very knowledgeable about what was happening to her. Lauren and the patient were a team which was very important to the patient's well-being. Lauren not only built a caring relationship with the patient but also with all her caregivers. I believe that the patient felt like she had another family at TMH to watch over her and Lauren was the "mother" coordinating everything.
The patient had a complex fistula dressing to manage and contain the output from the fistulas. Lauren took pictures of every step of the dressing change, printed the pictures and included it with the discharge paperwork to the rehabilitation center and for the VNA. She did these two-to-three times because the dressing had to be adjusted as her abdominal contours changed. She wanted the patient to succeed when she left the hospital and did everything she could to achieve this.
I feel it is an honor and privilege to work with such an outstanding NP.