Marisa is an amazing co-worker and Team Lead, who goes beyond her daily work to help find ways to support the work we do in the Emergency Department. She has been a member of our Compassion Team and has worked diligently in the past year to help implement practices, such as The Pause, to promote the importance of debriefing after codes/traumas, and to set up opportunities for learning how to be compassionate and caring to ourselves, so that we can carry on our mission and be compassionate to those who walk through our doors every day.
Yesterday, my 4 year old grandson was having some respiratory distress. Although this is not a new problem for him and we are well versed in assessing and treating him at home, sometimes he gets to the point where he needs to come in and be seen. This came at a particularly difficult time for me because of a code and death of a 4 year old patient I'd taken care of earlier in the week who also had respiratory issues. My response to my grandson's illness was greatly impacted by the post-traumatic stress I was under due to these recent events. Marisa understood this without explanation and not only helped facilitate the excellent care of my grandson, but she supported me during this emotional crisis as well.