Regina Smith-Parham
March 2022
Regina
Parham
,
RN
5 Center Octagon, Hemodialysis
Beaumont Royal Oak
Royal Oak
,
MI
United States
Regina met me at the door for her secret mission and told me that the candy was for a goody bag for one of our outpatients who comes in for regularly scheduled plasmapheresis.
Regina has had a long and distinguished career in nursing, including such diverse areas as labor and delivery and critical care as well as hemodialysis where she currently works. Regina is past retirement age but continues to give nursing her all. She is the first to pick up extra shifts and works more days than not.
She is also our "Mama Bear" though she may like to think she's tough. Regina's soft heart came to light strongly this past Halloween. I keep candy in my office at all times because employees sometimes need it to get through rough days/nights. Regina called me and asked me to bring candy to Dialysis. I thought she was having a rough day and made sure to bring her favorite: York peppermint patties. Regina met me at the door for her secret mission and told me that the candy was for a goody bag for one of our outpatients who comes in for regularly scheduled plasmapheresis. Regina was talking to him and he shared that his facility did not have a Halloween party for their residents due to Covid concerns. In addition to my candy, Regina also gave him candy from her own collection. True to being a renal nurse, Regina made sure to give him just a very little bit of chocolate.
Regina's soft heart came out again more recently when we introduced senior nursing students to Dialysis. We thought that having nursing students in a procedural area wasn't optimal but we accommodated several students since many of the inpatient units had been converting to Covid-19 during the fourth surge. Regina wasn't assigned a student but volunteered when another nurse had an unexpected illness. Since then, Regina has been sold on precepting our future nurses! She shares her vast knowledge and goes out of her way to give her students different experiences in the Dialysis unit, EC, ICU, and progressive units. Proud Mama Bear Regina keeps in touch with her students and proudly shares graduation pictures.
Most recently, Regina has taken ownership of and has been my biggest cheerleader for getting our dialysis patients to the Dialysis Unit on our specialty stretchers. Having patients come by our unit's stretchers, equipped with specialty mattresses, requires only one transporter as opposed to two required to arrive and depart by bed. With stretchers, we are able to get patients to their dialysis on time and patients are able to get their full treatment. Convincing patients who are used to coming to dialysis by bed to come by stretcher is no easy task. Regina has come to inpatient units to educate, assist, and support patients who are not used to this process.
The same two words come to mind: Mama Bear. Regina deserves recognition for an ongoing distinguished career, for the love of her patients, the support of her peers, her sense of humor, and her investment in our future nurses.
She is also our "Mama Bear" though she may like to think she's tough. Regina's soft heart came to light strongly this past Halloween. I keep candy in my office at all times because employees sometimes need it to get through rough days/nights. Regina called me and asked me to bring candy to Dialysis. I thought she was having a rough day and made sure to bring her favorite: York peppermint patties. Regina met me at the door for her secret mission and told me that the candy was for a goody bag for one of our outpatients who comes in for regularly scheduled plasmapheresis. Regina was talking to him and he shared that his facility did not have a Halloween party for their residents due to Covid concerns. In addition to my candy, Regina also gave him candy from her own collection. True to being a renal nurse, Regina made sure to give him just a very little bit of chocolate.
Regina's soft heart came out again more recently when we introduced senior nursing students to Dialysis. We thought that having nursing students in a procedural area wasn't optimal but we accommodated several students since many of the inpatient units had been converting to Covid-19 during the fourth surge. Regina wasn't assigned a student but volunteered when another nurse had an unexpected illness. Since then, Regina has been sold on precepting our future nurses! She shares her vast knowledge and goes out of her way to give her students different experiences in the Dialysis unit, EC, ICU, and progressive units. Proud Mama Bear Regina keeps in touch with her students and proudly shares graduation pictures.
Most recently, Regina has taken ownership of and has been my biggest cheerleader for getting our dialysis patients to the Dialysis Unit on our specialty stretchers. Having patients come by our unit's stretchers, equipped with specialty mattresses, requires only one transporter as opposed to two required to arrive and depart by bed. With stretchers, we are able to get patients to their dialysis on time and patients are able to get their full treatment. Convincing patients who are used to coming to dialysis by bed to come by stretcher is no easy task. Regina has come to inpatient units to educate, assist, and support patients who are not used to this process.
The same two words come to mind: Mama Bear. Regina deserves recognition for an ongoing distinguished career, for the love of her patients, the support of her peers, her sense of humor, and her investment in our future nurses.