Lauren has been an RN in the ED for the past 7 years. Words that colleagues would use to describe her would include kind, caring, and compassionate. She is always a patient advocate and as such she serves as a great example for all who work beside her. Nurse leaders would say that Lauren is always a pleasure to work with, never has a patient complaint, always seems to enjoy the work that she does, and generously shares her talents with colleagues.

Lauren’s consistently calm and approachable demeanor contributes to an environment of trust, respect, and teamwork. It encourages staff to learn from each other’s strengths and help each other when they are struggling with challenging patients, families, or colleagues. She serves as a mentor to staff of all levels who enjoy working beside her. When teamwork is apparent it is comforting to patients and families who come to the ED for care.

The most recent incident where Lauren advocated for a patient involved a patient named J who was believed to be homeless. He was brought in by an Emergency Medical Services ambulance for foot pain. The patient was seen and was cleared for discharge. Lauren felt that there was something about this patient that didn’t seem right. Something was off. She decided to review past ED records and was able to find a contact phone number for that patient. Lauren called the number and spoke to a family member who reported that the patient was missing from his Cambria Heights home for 6 days and that the family had been actively looking for him. The patient had recently been diagnosed with some cognitive issues and walked away from his home alone. The family came to the ED and were very appreciative to know that J was safe and could be taken home. Had Lauren not followed her intuition, J would have been discharged alone and perhaps not been found by his family. This patient was lucky to be cared for by Lauren, not only for her clinical skills but for her compassionate care.

In the ED it is common to review with staff when there is exemplary performance related to compassionate care for our patients. When we shared this story at the morning huddle, the ED staff clapped for Lauren even though she was not on duty to share in the conversation. The ED tech who cared for J as well noted that he was very hungry, and the Tech made sure that J had adequate food available while engaging the patient in conversation. While some might tend not to give that little bit extra attention to patients, Lauren always does and inspires others to do so as well. Sometimes kindness can be contagious. We are grateful to have Lauren on our team.