Megan Greathouse
May 2017
Megan
Greathouse
,
RN
ENT/Orthopedic Surgical Specialties
UAMS Medical Center
Little Rock
,
AR
United States

 

 

 

We recently received a patient with special needs, and Megan was the perfect nurse to be assigned to him. This patient was not content with resting or staying in his room. He wanted to walk brisk laps around the unit, accompanied by a staff member. Megan was his assigned nurse and the patient quickly bonded with her. She was able to get him word search puzzles to give him some other activities to do and every free moment in between patients, she would be his walking partner around the unit. Megan took the time to talk to him and gave him her undivided attention.
During lunch time, we realized that he did not receive his meal tray. We checked the unit that he was transferred from and the trays were already picked up. He made his own lunch choices and was really looking forward to his cheeseburger. His mother informed us that he is very picky and would not eat anything other than what he ordered. Megan went down to the cafeteria and bought him his special order cheeseburger with mayo on the side, fries, and a large sweet tea. Megan always goes above and beyond to meet her patients' needs and this was just one example.
*****
Megan is one of our strongest charge nurses, preceptors, and patient/staff advocates on our unit. Just yesterday, she knew that the hospital was in a huge bed crisis and took it upon herself to assist case management with a patient who was assigned to a pulled nurse to ensure that all of the complex needs of the patient was met. This required clarification from an MD, several RNs, a home health company, case management, and the patient. This greatly decreased the chance of error for the patient and facilitated a discharge many hours quicker in order to accept another post-op patient waiting in PACU.
Megan recently stayed 1-2 hrs after her shift as a charge nurse to ensure that patient needs were finalized and the staff was comfortable with managing ongoing concerns. Megan looks out for the unit as a whole every day whether she is in change or has her own patient load. She believes in teamwork and producing excellent outcomes for our patients. We are so very blessed to have her!