Nicole deserves to be recognized for the outstanding example she sets for all Advocate associates and the unparalleled care she provides to not only patients but all who come in contact with her. Nicole has been a nurse at ACMC since 1999 and prior to transferring to Inpatient psych, she was an ACM on 7 West which was a medical-surgical unit. Upon transferring to the psychiatric unit, she worked closely with others to transform S West which was a Geriatric/psychiatric unit into a Medical/Geriatric Psych unit. This had a positive impact not only on our psychiatric patient population but hospital-wide due to the fact that 5 West now accepts patients with medical issues and this frees up medical beds throughout the hospital. Nicole has a unique and phenomenal way of responding with kindness and gratitude even when faced with unexpected and stressful situations.
This past Thanksgiving, Nicole was unable to join her husband and children on a long-awaited and yearly trip to Iowa to visit family for the holidays. When she heard of staffing concerns for the days she would be on vacation, Nicole took it upon herself to pick up two extra shifts where her expertise is so valued amongst novice nurses. Rather than being bitter and resentful that she had to stay home by herself, Nicole put all of her positive energy into cooking a huge Thanksgiving meal for all staff working around the holiday. She bought pies for all of the patients and greeted staff with a huge smile on her face as she set up the food in the break room.
This is not an isolated incident either! She has set up Super Bowl parties on the units with tons of decorations and food she bought and prepared. She is always the first one to decorate for holidays, setting up a Christmas tree on SW, hanging colorful streamers and paper decorations, table centerpieces, "happy birthday" signs, all which bring our patients such joy. She even organizes "spa days", where she brings in tons of nail polish from home and gives the patients manicures while the men get a shave. Nicole has gone down to the cafeteria or the vending machine countless times to purchase patients food when they have a poor appetite, need a pick me up or didn't receive what they wanted on their tray and the kitchen is closed. Nicole has enlisted the help of her mother in getting clothes for our clothes closet and frequently brings in items of clothing for our patients.
Nicole was especially touched by a patient who had a very severe suicide attempt and had no visitors or family come to see her in the months she was on our unit. This patient had to return to the hospital she came from for 2 surgical repairs of her body. Nicole spent 2 of her days off, traveling from her home in Indiana to Chicago, to go with this patient to give her the support she lacked from anyone in her life but the ACMC behavioral health team. This patient who barely talked was deeply touched by these gestures.
As special as she makes our patients feel, I can assure you that she makes our staff feel just as important. Nicole participated in a research project that studied behavioral health rapid responses and discovered that a majority were related to alcohol and drug withdrawals. She then presented at the Advocate Research Symposium about the positive impact that the Behavioral Health Response Team has had on medical units throughout ACMC. Nicole toured Good Samaritan Hospital's detox unit and researched their policies and procedures which provided the framework for our new detox unit. In fact, Nicole along with other leaders on our unit, wrote many of the policies that are now in place on 5 West.
Nicole inspires all those who work with her by being a constant example of how to exceed expectations as an Advocate associate. She goes above and beyond in representing the behaviors of excellence and always upholds these behaviors in others.