Taylor Murphy
December 2025
Taylor
Murphy
,
ADN, RN
Emergency Department
Prisma Health Baptist Parkridge Hospital
Columbia
,
SC
United States
No matter how frustrating the situation was she continued to reach out to him in a manner that made it through his difficult mental state and reached the person that is inside that needed help.
I am writing this to you to let you know of the above-and-beyond actions of one of your team members, Taylor Murphy. Nurse Murphy has always shown great professionalism and leadership skills that truly help Parkridge’s ED maintain its consistent success. However, on Tuesday, I personally witnessed a level of nursing care that exceeds any school's teaching and can only come from someone who truly cares for their fellow human being.
On Tuesday, late in the day, possibly around 1530, Parkridge ED received a patient via EMSwho is known to the hospital. He, as you know, has a history with the hospitals, often not on his needed medication, dirty from living on the streets, and during his episodes, is very difficult to direct. He seems to have a difficult time processing commands, especially when not on certain medications. Excessive stimulation can also lead to his inability to focus and follow simple commands, so that the team can provide proper care to him. This obviously can be very frustrating to anyone, especially a nurse who is just trying to care for someone who just can’t focus and be still enough for them to do even the most basic tasks.
I personally have dealt with him at multiple Prisma locations. I can say that on his Parkridge visit this day, he was in one of the more difficult conditions I have seen. While assisting the team try to work with him, I can clearly see the team of doctors, nurses, techs, and security grow increasingly frustrated with him as we could not get him to focus and follow the directions needed to assist him.
At one point, when asking him about his care and if he needed us call anyone, he started to speak of his mother, and his eyes began to tear up, but he quickly changed topics and veered off mentally as he does. For some reason, he returned a few times to quickly speak of his mother again before mentally wandering away. I am not sure if Nurse Murphy picked up on this or if it was her own motherly instinct, but she changed her tone, her posture, her entire demeanor. I am not saying that prior to this moment she was anything but the professional I have always seen but to me I noticed a calming change.
Nurse Murphy started to talk to him like a mother would. She was not talking down to him or like a child, but like a mother would talk to someone to get them to focus and do as asked in a stern but calm, loving, and gentle manner. While it was still difficult to get him to focus and do what was needed, Nurse Murphy never gave up and never wavered from that motherly care.
Because of her actions, we were able to get him to do what we needed so that we could get him the medication he needed. Not only was she able to get him to take his medications, but she was also able to get him to clean himself up, shower, brush his teeth, and put on clean clothes. No matter how frustrating the situation was she continued to reach out to him in a manner that made it through his difficult mental state and reached the person that is inside that needed help.
To me, this is a nurse who is truly showing what Prisma talks about and encourages its team members to be: to be the difference. To connect what we do to the purpose we have in healthcare. The fact that she did it so effortlessly, and probably does not even realize it to this moment, is that her actions helped this young man in a very difficult time. Sadley this patient will never know this; his mental state probably will never allow that. So that just shows me even more how special it was to see one of our nurses do that.
We all know nursing is a thankless job, but to go above and beyond to help a person in need that will never be able to understand or be able to thank her for her actions, she still did what an amazing nurse will always do: help others when they can’t help themselves.
***
She works great, loves her job, and makes me feel alive!
On Tuesday, late in the day, possibly around 1530, Parkridge ED received a patient via EMSwho is known to the hospital. He, as you know, has a history with the hospitals, often not on his needed medication, dirty from living on the streets, and during his episodes, is very difficult to direct. He seems to have a difficult time processing commands, especially when not on certain medications. Excessive stimulation can also lead to his inability to focus and follow simple commands, so that the team can provide proper care to him. This obviously can be very frustrating to anyone, especially a nurse who is just trying to care for someone who just can’t focus and be still enough for them to do even the most basic tasks.
I personally have dealt with him at multiple Prisma locations. I can say that on his Parkridge visit this day, he was in one of the more difficult conditions I have seen. While assisting the team try to work with him, I can clearly see the team of doctors, nurses, techs, and security grow increasingly frustrated with him as we could not get him to focus and follow the directions needed to assist him.
At one point, when asking him about his care and if he needed us call anyone, he started to speak of his mother, and his eyes began to tear up, but he quickly changed topics and veered off mentally as he does. For some reason, he returned a few times to quickly speak of his mother again before mentally wandering away. I am not sure if Nurse Murphy picked up on this or if it was her own motherly instinct, but she changed her tone, her posture, her entire demeanor. I am not saying that prior to this moment she was anything but the professional I have always seen but to me I noticed a calming change.
Nurse Murphy started to talk to him like a mother would. She was not talking down to him or like a child, but like a mother would talk to someone to get them to focus and do as asked in a stern but calm, loving, and gentle manner. While it was still difficult to get him to focus and do what was needed, Nurse Murphy never gave up and never wavered from that motherly care.
Because of her actions, we were able to get him to do what we needed so that we could get him the medication he needed. Not only was she able to get him to take his medications, but she was also able to get him to clean himself up, shower, brush his teeth, and put on clean clothes. No matter how frustrating the situation was she continued to reach out to him in a manner that made it through his difficult mental state and reached the person that is inside that needed help.
To me, this is a nurse who is truly showing what Prisma talks about and encourages its team members to be: to be the difference. To connect what we do to the purpose we have in healthcare. The fact that she did it so effortlessly, and probably does not even realize it to this moment, is that her actions helped this young man in a very difficult time. Sadley this patient will never know this; his mental state probably will never allow that. So that just shows me even more how special it was to see one of our nurses do that.
We all know nursing is a thankless job, but to go above and beyond to help a person in need that will never be able to understand or be able to thank her for her actions, she still did what an amazing nurse will always do: help others when they can’t help themselves.
***
She works great, loves her job, and makes me feel alive!