Taylar provides direct patient care to a complex pediatric patient population on our 23 bed unit. We care for patients that have recently had open heart surgery, medical-surgical patients, and patients needing long term rehabilitation.
She is now a charge nurse, strong clinical coach, she is on the CHEWS committee. She is a unit champion for our High Risk Low Volume competencies for chest tubes and isolettes, a hospital champion on the unit design committee, and she is on the CAUTI committee for our Ohio Initiatives. Taylar has participated in unit organized walks to raise money for our patients with congenital heart defects and the Ronald McDonald House.
Taylar is able to care for our most complex patients by planning, organizing and prioritizing their care efficiently. She remains calm in stressful situations and is often the smiling, calm presence that the unit needs on hectic days. She recognizes key changes in a patient status and escalates any concerns appropriately up the chain of command. Since Taylar's start as a nurse she has had a great base of knowledge and ability to recognize situations with her patients which require further attention.
Any feedback provided to Taylar she takes and utilizes for advancement. When Taylar is given new information, she is able to obtain that information, use it for herself, and also assist others with it. She is one of the newer nurses on our unit, but is a resource for all nurses. Taylar precepts nursing students, leadership students, and nurses that float for orientation from other hospitals. Taylar will drop what she is doing to help out another nurse on the floor, whether it may be picking up a patient from a procedure, taking an admission, or giving medications, she will gladly do it to help her coworkers.
Taylar always strives to put her patients and their family's needs above all else. She is a great advocate and provides a holistic approach to her care. Taylar is very flexible in her patient assignment and with her schedule. With the blizzard that occurred in our area this winter our unit was having staffing difficulties. Taylar offered to stay for a 16 hour shift the day of the snow storm and then come back the next morning for a 12 hour shift to help balance call offs and staff the unit. Taylar did so without asking for anything in return. Taylar is never one to complain about receiving multiple admissions or having a busy day, she goes with the flow of the unit and adapts to any situation.
We recently had a patient who was involved in an accident leaving him with serious injuries. This patient was often by himself and became depressed. He was often seen upset and crying, and would not always speak with staff. She took it upon herself everyday she was here to cheer this patient up and make his hospital stay better. Her outgoing personality and positive outlook was what this patient needed. She requested to have the patient the next few times she was at work, and after a few days of Taylar's smiling and joking with this patient he was smiling and joking in return. In the patient's month long stay, prior to Taylar, I had never seen him smiling and joking the way he now does with staff. Taylar brought him in his favorite foods from his favorite fast food restaurants, and was often seen singing and dancing in his room. Instead of the patient lying in bed in his room with blankets over his head, he now is out in the halls interacting with everyone on the unit. He now knows the names of the majority of our staff, socializes with everyone, and has had a complete turnaround. This is just one example of the impact and difference that Taylar makes in her patients' lives.
Aside from being active on our unit, Taylar is very involved with her church and her community, where she often participates in programs and activities. While in nursing school she traveled on a medical trip with her school to Honduras.
In 2015, Taylar went on a mission trip to Mexico. The group she was with provided health screenings (blood pressure and glucose screenings) and education. They helped with the construction of a new building (building walls, laying tile, painting), visited an orphanage, hosted vacation bible school activities and crafts and participated in activities with the community. Taylar brought a suitcase full of toothbrushes, tooth paste and other hygiene supplies people donated for her mission trip.
In August 2016, Taylar went on a 2 week mission trip to Peru where she used her own vacation time and money to help others. The group of people she traveled with provided free health screenings, education on dental hygiene, hand washing, healthy eating, diabetes, and participated in other activities in the surrounding communities. They made soaps and lotions and provided gift bags to the staff in one of the clinics that they worked in.
Taylar is self-directed, she has a confidence that goes beyond the daily nursing responsibilities. Taylar goes above and beyond her role as a Nurse Clinician II on the unit and lives out our mission, values and philosophy. Taylar consistently provides safe and effective care to all of our patients and has her CPN certification. She treats all our patients equally with respect, and impacts each patient and family she encounters. Not only does she provide a great experience for our patients and families, she is a great coworker and a pleasure to work with. She has stepped up as a resource on our unit and is demonstrating great leadership qualities. She is truly an asset to our unit, and we are very lucky to have her!