Meredith von Werssowetz
September 2015
Meredith
von Werssowetz
,
BSN, RN, WOCN
Ostomy and Wound Care
Oregon Health & Science University
Portland
,
OR
United States

 

 

 

Meredith has been a valued member of the WOCN crew for about 3 years. When she worked on 13K, many patients needed ostomies - and this triggered Meredith's interest in skin issues. She served as a skin champion and then worked as a resource nurse for the department. She earned her WOCN certification 2 years ago. In FY14, Meredith served as a coach for an EBP fellowship project around occipital wounds in patient on spinal precautions. Meredith's interest in her patients' well-being is more than skin deep!

Meredith was nominated by a patient's husband, who had this to say about how Meredith is deserving of this award:

"I do not wish to comment on her nursing skills as they were outstanding. But what puts this person at the top of my list is the care that she gave my wife. My wife was having trouble with her ostomy bag on the floor and also was depressed. Meredith saw her name appear on a list and came over to see her, even though she no longer had any responsibility for her. As the floor nurses were also having trouble with the bag, she reset the bag and gave the floor nurses some helpful hints. She came by every day to check on my wife. Three things stand out. 1. She cared enough about her patients to monitor them over the entire hospital experience. 2. She gave helpful advice to other care givers without antagonizing them (A VERY hard thing to do) and 3. She was funny and made a big difference in my wife's care."