Atrium Health is fortunate to have many wonderful nurse-led teams going above and beyond for our patients. One team has stood out to me in a way that no other team has. The Breast Surgery team at Levine Cancer Institute Union West (Deana Rivers, RN, Lakendra Miller, MA, and Lori Guinn) has found countless ways to go above and beyond to meet their patient’s needs outside of their direct patient care.

Every Christmas, they select a patient who has touched them in some way throughout the year who is in a difficult financial situation, and they sponsor them for Christmas. They’ve done this for the last 5 years, and these are my two favorite examples. One year, they had a patient who always complimented Deana and Lakendra’s Nike sneakers every time she came to the clinic. For Christmas, they bought her a pair of purple Nikes (her favorite color) and a few other small gifts. Another year, they chose a patient in her 30s with two young kids. They bought gifts for the patient and her kids. The patient had always wanted to go to a Carolina Panthers game and had never been able to afford it. The team nurse navigator, Danielle Massey, was able to arrange for the patient to go to a game and even have the honor of hitting the gong.

Unfortunately, they haven’t been able to participate in this fundraiser since the pandemic, but for multiple years, they have created a basket to donate to an auction that raises funds to assist patients with the cost of mammograms. One year they were able to get a pink KitchenAid stand mixer donated, and they added pink baking supplies to it. Another year, they were able to purchase a large pink Yeti cooler at wholesale cost, and they added cornhole boards to it.

One year on Valentine’s Day, they were able to get roses donated, and they gave roses and candy to their patients. There was a patient who arrived at the clinic, and her pants kept falling. She was continuously apologizing for being dirty, and when they told her it was okay, she said it wasn’t okay. She was clearly upset about her circumstances. The next time she came to the clinic, they had a gift basket for her with a belt, laundry detergent, snacks and candy, and crossword books. There was another patient who was upset because she wanted to buy her kids new shoes, but she didn’t have the money to do it, so they gave her some money to assist her in buying new shoes for her kids. They are selfless and generous, and they always find ways to show compassion to their patients. Their dedication to their patients is apparent, and we, as an organization, are lucky to have them.