In nursing school, we learn about the greats of nursing - Jean Watson, Patricia Benner, Hildegard Peplau, and of course, Florence Nightingale. Years later, in the midst of a busy shift when you're struggling to stay on top of medications that are due, incoming orders and ringing call bells, it is not hard to forget what these women stood for. When you feel like you are treading water and chasing beeping IV pumps, who has the time to remember Nightingale's Environmental Theory of Nursing?
Enter Leslie Kinsella, who fully follows Nightingale's theory that nursing is achieved through environmental alteration. Immediately after receiving report, Leslie can be found going room to room saying, "Gotta get you up and into the chair. C'mon it's good to sit up, and lets open theses blinds too! Get some fresh sunlight in here, it's good for healing". She does this with a smile on her face, while providing a backrub for her patients once she sits them in their chair before they eat. Yes, a backrub. That is the kind of nurse Leslie is. Nightingale theorized that direct sunlight, efficient drainage, and cleanliness of the patient and environment will create the optimal conditions for the patient's body to heal itself, and Leslie is Florence Nightingale reincarnated with a Canadian accent.
Leslie runs around answering call bells, passing medications, and educating her patients on their side effects as we are tasked to do, but she goes above and beyond in optimizing the health of her patients. She is recognized on rounds by all her patients as being an outstanding nurse. She is an active member of her unit's unit based council and is developing a care plan for the Psychiatric Bridge Program to better take care of our psychiatric patients. She is looked to as one of the unit's Moms and is always teaching our new hires. She takes them under her wing and shows them how "old school nursing" is done properly, which is really the Watson 10 Caritas Processes in action.
Leslie's colleagues describe her as a nurse who cares for the entire person of their patient, their physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being. She is always well informed and "on the ball" with her patients, thinking two steps ahead and able to address problems seemingly before they arrive. She is confident in her skills as a nurse, works together with the staff in an open dialogue and is always looking for ways to make the unit function better. Leslie epitomizes the theories of both Watson and Nightingale in her everyday work as a nurse, and is a true asset to our unit's team. Being nurse is not a profession for Leslie, it is who she is. It is her calling. Monmouth Medical Center and all of our patients are fortunate to have her here, elevating those around her.