Sherrie Keller, RN

Imagine a busy Friday after a very busy emotional week taking care of cancer patients.  You’re already assigned to be the late nurse so it will be after 5 p.m. until you weekend begins.  A patient calls and needs pain medication.  So, you get the order, but the insurance provider is demanding a prior authorization.  You go through all the hoops to complete the forms and they deny it.  The patient offers to pay in full, but it costs over $400.  Sherrie takes an additional step and calls the insurance company.  This can be quite an ordeal and take a long time until you can get to speak with someone.  An additional order was obtained as they requested, but it too needed a prior authorization.  Unfortunately, the approval did not come back until an hour after Sherrie's Friday night shift had ended.  Sherrie stayed the course and ensured that this cancer patient with significant pain from treatment side effects got the medication she needed for the weekend.  Sherrie has done this on several occasions.  This was not her first time giving up personal time to make sure a patient was taken care of.