I want to recognize Meredith Plummer for her open-heart, proactive leadership, patient advocacy, and ongoing willingness to help all. I have been a traveling nurse, a float nurse, and now an R5 nurse and understand the importance of interdepartmental relations. Meredith has personally helped me and my fellow colleagues numerous times in spite of managing either her own busy assignment or the entire R3 unit as lead charge.
R5 had a patient who was in terrible need of an NG tube due to an ileus that was causing him intractable vomiting. The patient's suffering extended to his family who felt immense emotional pain watching him in such discomfort. Unfortunately, this was an exceptionally difficult NG tube placement as the patient had a history of breaking his nose several times. I called the R3 charge and gave a small report on the patient, describing the situation. Not ten minutes later, did the charge nurse arrive on R5 with, who else but Meredith. Meredith was in a busy assignment but still came up to help her charge and her R5 colleagues because she recognized the importance of interdepartmental support. The NG tube placement was successful and the patient and family felt immediate relief. Because of her skill, compassionate care and commitment to excellence, the patient received the care he needed.
R5 had a patient who had an enterocutaneous fistula (EC) requiring a pouch on his abdomen and on his coccyx. The amount of output from the EC fistula was too much to keep up with. Due to its location and amount of output, I knew R5 needed an expert. I was at bed board and knowing her wonderful and generous nature, asked Meredith if she could help with this very difficult dressing. It was almost 5:00 pm and her unit was struggling with their own patient needs, but she still managed to make the night assignment, check in on her nurses, and come to our floor to assess the patient. She created a dressing that held, and the patient felt better. Can you imagine having a fistula with such extensive output? This patient was repeatedly turned and cleaned and dressing after dressing was attempted. He was in physical pain and the exposure of his body was so raw and emotionally exhausting for him. Because of Meredith's nursing excellence and her willingness to extend her caring nature beyond the walls of R3, she truly made a difference in this patient's life. Thank you, Meredith. You have a way of naturally exceeding expectations.
I think Meredith is a very special nurse at Maine Medical Center. Not only is she selfless, but she possesses a lightness and wit that puts everyone else at ease. If you think of a nurse that envelops it all, I'm pretty sure Meredith Plummer would be at the top of the list.
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Meredith Plummer stands out as someone who shows professionalism, above-average skill and grace under pressure, and she incorporates teaching in every aspect of her practice. I have been a nurse for 13 years and I still use Meredith as a peer support person, as well as a go-to resource for patient care. She is always aware of quality and practice initiatives, incorporating them into her daily work. Not only is she always aware of best practice, she is a champion of change, moving it forward to help it become standard practice for everyone. As a charge nurse, she is a problem solver. Her attitude towards difficult patients, complex assignments and coworker issues are exemplary. She can receive a lot of feedback from her co-workers regarding who gets what assignment, who has to float, who gets to be in charge; her attitude is always, "we are here to be nurses, who cares where we are or what we have been assigned to do". This attitude embodies inspirational leadership at the bedside and the values of nursing at MMC.
She has been a traveling nurse on almost every type of unit across the country, a cardiac nurse, a hospice nurse, a prison nurse- you name it, she has done it. This is important because it has allowed her to develop a calmness under pressure and an ability to turn an unfortunate circumstance into an opportunity for the patient. She brings tips, tricks, and advice for dealing with strange situations. She is one of the best IV sticks, dressing-changers and behavioral emergency responders on the unit. She also has an outstanding way with patients, using humor during uncomfortable situations. She has had a coworker come in and hold a teary patient's hand during a painful dressing change and seems to value that as much as the dressing change itself. It's that maturity and light-hearted nuance in her daily practice that really makes her stand out and makes new nurses want to emulate that type of practice.
Her humor and ease in her personality make her a great resource for new nurses. She has a way of making everyone feel included and giving confidence to new nurses, empowering them to flex their nursing muscle. Meredith participates in the unit professional development programs to refine and develop and enhance teaching methods. She is a resource to our UBE in helping organize new nurse orientation, including having the idea that the first day of orientation should be spent as a floater on the unit, starting IVs, gaining confidence, becoming more comfortable with the surroundings. This idea has contributed to the success of new nurses on R3 and helps the new nurse transition to the role of professional in a more natural, intuitive way. Our UBE consults Meredith often about new ideas or opinions on orientation needs, realizing that every new employee may have different learning needs, and just because someone does not catch on super-fast does not mean they should be disregarded or dismissed. Because of Meredith's vast experience, she is good at assessing and planning for needs of the new nurse and helping to implement ideas. Even though she is approaching an expert nurse level, she delivers care patiently and sets a good example for her orientees. Seeing how much her coworkers value her shows the newbies that her way of practice is very valuable. In order to keep up with the ever-changing demands of this job, leading by example is crucial.
Meredith has served as preceptor to 2 new nurses in the past 2 years. Her style of orienting is extremely effective. In her own practice, she is very smart and succinct, but she has a way of helping the new nurse realize that she knows the answer herself, and has her get to the conclusion on her own. There is a tendency to let a new nurse go once she demonstrates that she knows a certain task, but Meredith is constantly checking tasks and encouraging critical thinking. She helps the orientee learn to prioritize and constantly think on her feet, even if it means constant re-adjustment to "the plan". This style helps the novice feel safer and more secure in the knowledge that someone is looking out for her practice while she is developing her skills. When someone on staff expresses frustration with the performance of another nurse, whether it is a new nurse or not, Meredith responds in a patient way, encouraging her coworkers to think more comprehensively about what may be going on with that person. That being said, she holds people accountable for their actions, trying to understand the rationale behind a given action and using fact-finding and evidence-based explanation.
As a KPI training attendee and champion, Meredith has helped provide ongoing support to make KPI successful. She contributes to developing new KPIs, she assesses the efficacy and attainability of current goals and helps coworkers and managers see more clearly how a goal is actually benefitting the unit. She has a way of balancing the reality of the busyness of floor nursing with up to date developments in research, quality, and evidence-based practice. Her likability and positivity provide a good forward momentum to help our unit stay at the cutting-edge of practice.
Meredith's commitment to teaching is evident in her latest endeavor as a clinical instructor. This month Meredith will be responsible for teaching her first clinical group for UNE on P3CD. She has never been a clinical instructor before, but judging by her outstanding performance as a Preceptor, a coworker and an all-around hilarious person, those students are going to be excellent clinicians by the time the rotation is over, expertly helping transition them from student to professional. As mentioned earlier, Meredith has been a friend and coworker for many years. She is the first to offer peer consultation and support when a colleague experiences an adverse event. Whether she is "relaxing" with coworkers on her break, making R3-specific celebration cakes (ask her about her GI bleed/lice special), trying out the new PT equipment, or acing an archery course, she is behaving with an attitude that MMC should be proud of. She is consistently developing new and seasoned staff; she is a funny, sweet woman with a heart of gold and R3 is very lucky.