Lori Shelman
August 2023
Lori
Shelman
,
BSN, RN, PCCN
Wound Care
JPS Health Network
Fort Worth
,
TX
United States
This is the same patient who told me that Lori treats him like a human and shakes his hand when she comes into the room, that she makes him feel safe, that he loves it when she touches his back and combs his beard, and that he looks forward to her visiting him.
Lori’s compassionate care seems to know no bounds for patients and for other staff members. One patient loves that she shakes his hand every time she comes to see him. She brought beard oil from home and combs out his beard every time she comes to perform a dressing change. This patient told me, “She treats me like a human.” This statement is so striking because it should be the standard, not the exception. How Lori treats her patients is how we should treat not only our patients but each other.
Lori came to our boss's Great 100 Nurses Ceremony to celebrate her. She also is the principal organizer for our Team’s extracurricular outings to build Team Spirit and morale. To say she provides exceptional care or treats everyone with compassion is an insufficient description of Lori. These descriptors that I am listing are a part of who she is at her core. She performs incredible acts of kindness.
With the answers to the previous questions being striking, the best is yet to come. I am writing this DAISY Award submission at the request of a patient. It is expected that nurses advocate for their patients, but I have never seen a patient advocate so strongly for his Wound Care Nurse. When you listen to him speak about Lori, he comes alive and his face is loving. This is the same patient who told me that Lori treats him like a human and shakes his hand when she comes into the room, that she makes him feel safe, that he loves it when she touches his back and combs his beard, and that he looks forward to her visiting him. This patient unfortunately has suffered multiple adverse events, and has PTSD to the point he has violent nightmares and cannot sleep at night, and yet, he trusts and I daresay loves Lori. His implicit trust is in spite of all he has suffered because of Lori’s care, from shaking his hand to bringing him a piece of cake to thoroughly explaining his care to him in words he can understand. This patient sees Lori as part of his family now. It is truly staggering how life-changing treating someone “like a human” can be.
Lori came to our boss's Great 100 Nurses Ceremony to celebrate her. She also is the principal organizer for our Team’s extracurricular outings to build Team Spirit and morale. To say she provides exceptional care or treats everyone with compassion is an insufficient description of Lori. These descriptors that I am listing are a part of who she is at her core. She performs incredible acts of kindness.
With the answers to the previous questions being striking, the best is yet to come. I am writing this DAISY Award submission at the request of a patient. It is expected that nurses advocate for their patients, but I have never seen a patient advocate so strongly for his Wound Care Nurse. When you listen to him speak about Lori, he comes alive and his face is loving. This is the same patient who told me that Lori treats him like a human and shakes his hand when she comes into the room, that she makes him feel safe, that he loves it when she touches his back and combs his beard, and that he looks forward to her visiting him. This patient unfortunately has suffered multiple adverse events, and has PTSD to the point he has violent nightmares and cannot sleep at night, and yet, he trusts and I daresay loves Lori. His implicit trust is in spite of all he has suffered because of Lori’s care, from shaking his hand to bringing him a piece of cake to thoroughly explaining his care to him in words he can understand. This patient sees Lori as part of his family now. It is truly staggering how life-changing treating someone “like a human” can be.