Raychel had been assigned a patient on Medical who was very autistic and developmentally delayed, whom the Medical staff was not accustomed to caring for. Per report, she did an amazing job caring for him, not ever having seen him before. She used therapeutic communication with him, and he appeared to trust Raychel more and more as the night went on. She was able to speak with the patient’s mother early in the shift to better understand the best way to assist him, which aided her in the care she provided. When talking to her this morning, she conveyed to me how important it is for us to care for patients who absolutely cannot care for themselves. She put herself in the mother’s shoes regarding the stress she must be under when caring for him at home and encouraged her coworkers to do the same.

This same night, Raychel also assisted in providing care to a suicidal patient, who was not assigned to her, but because of her experience in working with this type of patient in BHU, she was able to have a meaningful conversation with this patient. She gave this patient a journal and encouraged her to use it to help manage her emotions and her situation. The patient was very grateful to Raychel for the time and care she gave to her, so much so that she spoke very highly of her to the doctor, who rounded on her the next day. The doctor came to my office specifically to let me know of the impact Raychel had on this patient.

Raychel is an amazing nurse, regardless of whether she is working on the Medical Unit or in BHU. We are very blessed to have her here!