Lisa Paris
December 2020
Lisa
Paris
,
BS, RN
Acute Psychiatry
Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial Veterans Hospital
Little by little Lisa was helping Mr. C come alive. He trusted Lisa. It is hard to write down the way that Lisa helped this man feel human again. He went from 'failure to thrive' to wanting to live!
I think many of us would describe a great nurse with similar characteristics; compassionate, competent, caring, sets our mind at ease, and makes us feel like it is going to be ok. These are all characteristics that Lisa Paris possesses. Lisa is an amazing nurse. She provides compassionate, competent care to even the most challenging veterans. Working on a locked psychiatric unit is not easy, but Lisa always comes to work with a positive attitude and ready to take on the days' challenges.
During the uncertain and scary times of COVID, 78F admitted many veterans struggling with the new reality we all were facing. One of the most challenging veterans admitted was Mr. C. He had never needed an inpatient psych unit but was struggling with severe depression. This Veteran was in fact so depressed he was psychotic. He was not sleeping, eating, drinking, and he was barely talking. He believed that we were all going to hurt him and his family and take every great thing in his life away from him! As the days progressed, Mr. C seemed to be getting worse. He refused to talk to his family, didn't want to participate in his treatment, barely moved from his bed, stopped eating altogether, and even ended up on a 1:1 for SI and needing IV hydration. Lisa sat with Mr. C for hours each day. She wouldn't just sit there making sure he was ok as her assignment sheet required. She would talk to him. She would bathe him. She would dress him. She would feed him. She would reassure him that it would be ok. She would give him tough love and make him walk to the end of the hall. Little by little Lisa was helping Mr. C come alive. He trusted Lisa. It is hard to write down the way that Lisa helped this man feel human again. He went from 'failure to thrive' to wanting to live! It was a long road, and not easy, but when Mr. C left the whole team was proud of the care that was given and the changes that he made. We all knew that a big piece of that success was because of Lisa. I think Mr. C. said it best in his discharge survey: "I couldn't have done this without the caring of Lisa Paris. She is one of a kind!" She sure is!!
Lisa is known on 78F by many nicknames, and all have been earned! I call her "Mama Lisa". I think it is self-explanatory, but she is the Mom of the unit, to us and to the veterans. She is the one who tells it how it is even when you don't want to hear it. She is the one who you feel comfortable with and who knows just what to say when you need to hear it. She provides holistic and compassionate and competent care, gives great advice, is a great listener, and hugs you down to your toes!
Lisa is truly an Extraordinary Nurse!
During the uncertain and scary times of COVID, 78F admitted many veterans struggling with the new reality we all were facing. One of the most challenging veterans admitted was Mr. C. He had never needed an inpatient psych unit but was struggling with severe depression. This Veteran was in fact so depressed he was psychotic. He was not sleeping, eating, drinking, and he was barely talking. He believed that we were all going to hurt him and his family and take every great thing in his life away from him! As the days progressed, Mr. C seemed to be getting worse. He refused to talk to his family, didn't want to participate in his treatment, barely moved from his bed, stopped eating altogether, and even ended up on a 1:1 for SI and needing IV hydration. Lisa sat with Mr. C for hours each day. She wouldn't just sit there making sure he was ok as her assignment sheet required. She would talk to him. She would bathe him. She would dress him. She would feed him. She would reassure him that it would be ok. She would give him tough love and make him walk to the end of the hall. Little by little Lisa was helping Mr. C come alive. He trusted Lisa. It is hard to write down the way that Lisa helped this man feel human again. He went from 'failure to thrive' to wanting to live! It was a long road, and not easy, but when Mr. C left the whole team was proud of the care that was given and the changes that he made. We all knew that a big piece of that success was because of Lisa. I think Mr. C. said it best in his discharge survey: "I couldn't have done this without the caring of Lisa Paris. She is one of a kind!" She sure is!!
Lisa is known on 78F by many nicknames, and all have been earned! I call her "Mama Lisa". I think it is self-explanatory, but she is the Mom of the unit, to us and to the veterans. She is the one who tells it how it is even when you don't want to hear it. She is the one who you feel comfortable with and who knows just what to say when you need to hear it. She provides holistic and compassionate and competent care, gives great advice, is a great listener, and hugs you down to your toes!
Lisa is truly an Extraordinary Nurse!