Michelle Sanchez
May 2022
Michelle G
Sanchez
,
MSN, RN, FNP-C
SMUCLA
Santa Monica UCLA Medical Center
Santa Monica
,
CA
United States
Michelle is always working hard to make patients feel special, and show them in more ways than just nursing-related, that we care about them as a human.
Michelle gives ‘hope to the hopeless,’ coordinating life-saving care that goes well beyond what medical intervention alone can provide.
Michelle Sanchez is an extraordinary nurse with a big heart. Recently, we had a patient on our unit who had been in and out of the hospital (and our unit) frequently due to multiple surgeries. The distance he had to travel, coupled with COVID, made it very difficult for his family to visit. During this latest admission, after staying in a Skilled Nursing Facility for almost a year, he had become severely depressed, constantly feeling lonely, hopeless, and suicidal. He frequently told staff that if he were to return to a Skilled Nursing Facility (“SNF”) after hospitalization, he would end his life. Unfortunately, because of his medical needs and lack of support at home, discharging to an SNF until his next scheduled surgery was the only safe plan for discharge.
Not only did Michelle provide this patient with compassionate care on multiple days of his hospitalization, but she also took the time to listen to him and discover larger issues that contributed to his loneliness in the SNF. She discovered that his cell phone had been broken for months and he had been unable to replace it. He told her that his confidence was crumbling because, for the last year that he lived in the hospital and SNF, he had lost his home and basically didn’t have any property that he could call his own. Michelle reached out to the entire unit to help the patient obtain a new phone and clothing. She created a scrapbook that the unit filled with messages to cheer him up and encourage him to keep going until his surgery day.
When he agreed to his discharge plan, she volunteered to add to her schedule on her day off to support him through his discharge. Because of her care and the support he received from the unit, this patient stated that he was determined to keep going and was excited for his surgery date. He asked if he could join us on our ZOOM staff meeting to thank all of our staff for the love he was shown. As a self-proclaimed ‘man of his word’ who ‘kept his promises,’ he told us all that he would not hurt himself or end his life. He thanked the unit for giving him purpose and being family to him. Michelle is always working hard to make patients feel special, and show them in more ways than just nursing-related, that we care about them as a human.
Michelle Sanchez is an extraordinary nurse with a big heart. Recently, we had a patient on our unit who had been in and out of the hospital (and our unit) frequently due to multiple surgeries. The distance he had to travel, coupled with COVID, made it very difficult for his family to visit. During this latest admission, after staying in a Skilled Nursing Facility for almost a year, he had become severely depressed, constantly feeling lonely, hopeless, and suicidal. He frequently told staff that if he were to return to a Skilled Nursing Facility (“SNF”) after hospitalization, he would end his life. Unfortunately, because of his medical needs and lack of support at home, discharging to an SNF until his next scheduled surgery was the only safe plan for discharge.
Not only did Michelle provide this patient with compassionate care on multiple days of his hospitalization, but she also took the time to listen to him and discover larger issues that contributed to his loneliness in the SNF. She discovered that his cell phone had been broken for months and he had been unable to replace it. He told her that his confidence was crumbling because, for the last year that he lived in the hospital and SNF, he had lost his home and basically didn’t have any property that he could call his own. Michelle reached out to the entire unit to help the patient obtain a new phone and clothing. She created a scrapbook that the unit filled with messages to cheer him up and encourage him to keep going until his surgery day.
When he agreed to his discharge plan, she volunteered to add to her schedule on her day off to support him through his discharge. Because of her care and the support he received from the unit, this patient stated that he was determined to keep going and was excited for his surgery date. He asked if he could join us on our ZOOM staff meeting to thank all of our staff for the love he was shown. As a self-proclaimed ‘man of his word’ who ‘kept his promises,’ he told us all that he would not hurt himself or end his life. He thanked the unit for giving him purpose and being family to him. Michelle is always working hard to make patients feel special, and show them in more ways than just nursing-related, that we care about them as a human.