Laurie A Ray
August 2022
Laurie A
Ray
,
MSN, RN, CCRN
Pediatric Intensive Care Unit
Children's Mercy Kansas City
Kansas City
,
MO
United States
This pandemic has changed the world of healthcare, but it hasn’t changed the care Laurie provides, and I think that says a lot.
Laurie Ray is such a hard worker, one of the hardest working nurses in the PICU. Laurie has been committed to Children's Mercy since 1988 and her dedication to this hospital, her patients, and coworkers still is incredibly admirable. She has been a nurse for 45 years, 34 of those years have been with Children's. I have had the pleasure of working with Laurie Ray for 4 years. Since day one, she has been helpful, kind, and uplifting. Nursing is not an easy profession. We all know that. We all know that the dedication to this career is ideal, but hard. But Laurie is dedicated to retiring from children's and is pushing herself to make it.
In the beginning of my nursing career, I was rotating. I worked days and nights, every 6 weeks. It was hard on my body and my homelife. As a new nurse, I was already hard on myself. I came into work for a night shift and was assigned to Laurie's two patients. Both patients had a rough day, and the families required a lot of attention and education. These patients should not have been paired, I can tell that Laurie had worked hard that day, and everything was left pristine for me. Both families raved about the care that Laurie provided them. Throughout the roller-coaster ride of their day, they both shared that Laurie took the time to provide exceptional care to their child, discussed with them what was going on, and made sure that her voice was heard with the team. She gave me report and was so sweet and compassionate about her concerns for the patients and their families.
Laurie primaried a long-term patient in the PICU and dedicated so much of her time to care for that sweet boy as if he was her own child. She advocated for him, learned about him, and loved him. She gave him the attention he deserved. Laurie and his other primary worked well together to ensure that there was proper signage and information for nurses to read and follow in order to properly care for this patient that made his own rules! When he was finally able to go home after an almost two-year-long stay, you could see how much it affected Laurie. He wasn't just a patient to her, he helped her see purpose.
Laurie encouraged me to advance my career. Laurie recognizes how important education is, and she encouraged me to push myself and my knowledge. She said, "challenge yourself while you can, take full advantage of advancing your education." She told me that while I was going through nursing school and the thought of even continuing on with that sounded terrible! I took her advice, and I am back in school. When I think of giving up and setting the books aside, I have her voice in the back of my head constantly, and I use it as a motivator. She cares about her patients. She works for her families. She works her butt off to make sure that the psychosocial side of things is covered. She utilizes her resources and knows what is best for her patients and her peers. She treats her patients as people, and not by their diagnosis or prognosis. I had admired this about her since the moment I met her.
I have always admired that she is all about giving her patients and families the best. We have a lot going on. We all know that. This pandemic has changed the world of healthcare, but it hasn’t changed the care Laurie provides, and I think that says a lot. I find myself admiring Laurie Ray from afar often. I often see her busting her tail providing marvelous patient care. I often see her helping out a neighbor. I often see her teaching, whether it’s a family being oriented to the PICU for the first time, or a nurse who is confused on a particular process. I often see her encouraging her fellow coworkers, whether it being a pat on the back, an in the moment compliment, or by a handwritten card left in the person's mailbox. She is a light.
I once overheard Laurie explaining her compassion to another nurse, but she was explaining it as though it’s a bad thing. As a burden, that causes her to ‘get behind on her tasks.’ The new nurse stopped her and said, “you cannot teach compassion. That is something that just comes naturally. It is something that you don’t see all the time, to this degree. Your compassion sets you aside from a lot of the other nurses here and there is a reason why you are so incredible at what you do. I look up to you for this exact reason. And I hope to be half the nurse you are one day." Nurses like Laurie Ray are one of kind. They are the reason that our hospital is such an incredible place to obtain care.
In the beginning of my nursing career, I was rotating. I worked days and nights, every 6 weeks. It was hard on my body and my homelife. As a new nurse, I was already hard on myself. I came into work for a night shift and was assigned to Laurie's two patients. Both patients had a rough day, and the families required a lot of attention and education. These patients should not have been paired, I can tell that Laurie had worked hard that day, and everything was left pristine for me. Both families raved about the care that Laurie provided them. Throughout the roller-coaster ride of their day, they both shared that Laurie took the time to provide exceptional care to their child, discussed with them what was going on, and made sure that her voice was heard with the team. She gave me report and was so sweet and compassionate about her concerns for the patients and their families.
Laurie primaried a long-term patient in the PICU and dedicated so much of her time to care for that sweet boy as if he was her own child. She advocated for him, learned about him, and loved him. She gave him the attention he deserved. Laurie and his other primary worked well together to ensure that there was proper signage and information for nurses to read and follow in order to properly care for this patient that made his own rules! When he was finally able to go home after an almost two-year-long stay, you could see how much it affected Laurie. He wasn't just a patient to her, he helped her see purpose.
Laurie encouraged me to advance my career. Laurie recognizes how important education is, and she encouraged me to push myself and my knowledge. She said, "challenge yourself while you can, take full advantage of advancing your education." She told me that while I was going through nursing school and the thought of even continuing on with that sounded terrible! I took her advice, and I am back in school. When I think of giving up and setting the books aside, I have her voice in the back of my head constantly, and I use it as a motivator. She cares about her patients. She works for her families. She works her butt off to make sure that the psychosocial side of things is covered. She utilizes her resources and knows what is best for her patients and her peers. She treats her patients as people, and not by their diagnosis or prognosis. I had admired this about her since the moment I met her.
I have always admired that she is all about giving her patients and families the best. We have a lot going on. We all know that. This pandemic has changed the world of healthcare, but it hasn’t changed the care Laurie provides, and I think that says a lot. I find myself admiring Laurie Ray from afar often. I often see her busting her tail providing marvelous patient care. I often see her helping out a neighbor. I often see her teaching, whether it’s a family being oriented to the PICU for the first time, or a nurse who is confused on a particular process. I often see her encouraging her fellow coworkers, whether it being a pat on the back, an in the moment compliment, or by a handwritten card left in the person's mailbox. She is a light.
I once overheard Laurie explaining her compassion to another nurse, but she was explaining it as though it’s a bad thing. As a burden, that causes her to ‘get behind on her tasks.’ The new nurse stopped her and said, “you cannot teach compassion. That is something that just comes naturally. It is something that you don’t see all the time, to this degree. Your compassion sets you aside from a lot of the other nurses here and there is a reason why you are so incredible at what you do. I look up to you for this exact reason. And I hope to be half the nurse you are one day." Nurses like Laurie Ray are one of kind. They are the reason that our hospital is such an incredible place to obtain care.