Meheret was nominated for proactively and compassionately caring for patients in unfortunate situations.
Meheret showed exemplary care by anticipating a patient's needs who was showing signs of a potential mental breakdown from being in the isolation room for three weeks. Knowing the patient's history of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, Meheret immediately contacted a social worker, psychologist and infection control. Once she was given the protocol from infection control, she took the patient outside on her lunch break to get some fresh air.
"Meheret walked her around the hospital and visited with her, giving her some normalcy to her difficult medical situation," wrote her nominator, also a fellow nurse. "The patient was tremendously grateful and certainly in a better mental frame of mind after being outside."
On another occasion, Meheret was caring for a young woman ravaged by long-term use of drugs. The patient struggled with the debilitating effects, and Meheret kept close watch over her, alerting the physician to address each issue as they arose. Unfortunately, after exhausting every avenue of treatment, the patient was becoming more and more lethargic and disoriented. Meheret contacted the family and when they arrived she comforted them, listened to their wishes and gently walked them through the difficult decisions they had to make.