May 2015
Sierra
Collom
,
RN
Med/Surg
Kaiser Permanente Westside Medical Center
Hillsboro
,
OR
United States
Sierra is a fantastic, compassionate nurse! On this Saturday, she was working with a very restless patient who had been unable to sleep for days dealing with severe pain from metastatic disease. Delirious and struggling with her diagnosis, the patient began to cry inconsolably and Sierra grabbed her, pulled her in tight to herself and told her to "cry," "let it out" and gave her what was clearly a much needed opportunity to grieve her painful, ugly, and terminal diagnosis. Given the patient's significant unsteadiness, there were at least 5 staff members in the room and with all of us supporting the patient hands-on and Sierra in firm embrace for at least several minutes, together, we stood there crying all together. We can't win every fight. But Sierra reminded me in this moment the powerful impact nurses have to help our patient be human and so much more than their diagnosis. Her clinical leadership and compassion has truly inspired me.