You know that one nurse that you see her name on the staffing sheet and you think, oh good so and so is here, she and blank will get along great. Even if it's a difficult patient with high acuity and many social/psychological needs. You know your day won't be full of multiple trips to the room to smooth fluffed feathers or changing of assignments or calls to the doctor to fulfill multiple odd requests by the RN or patient. When Susan is on, it's that kind of day. Her patients are well cared for, happy, content and consistently give great feedback about her. She always talks with them about the plan for the day, medications, their side effects, that they need to brush their teeth 4x per day and why (especially having grown up with a dentist for a father) and that she'll be bugging them every hour because that's what she does because it's her job and she loves them. All is this is done with a sense of humor and a palpable sense of purpose. Susan is a rule follower to be sure. P and P guide her practice but it is her sense of compassion that drives her. It's legendary.
We once had a patient waiting for conservatorship/placement who refused to change his clothes. After a while, he was quite ripe. Susan managed to convince him to change for one day and she brought his beloved clothes to her house to wash and brought them back so he could wear his preferred clothes again and feel comfortable in his surroundings. He was so thankful. He cried!
Recently, we had a COVID patient whom Susan had worked w several times. Susan saw to it each day that she worked with him that he got out of bed. She felt he was getting more depressed. She made it a point to give him a shower to make him feel more "normal". Early in this man's stay when things weren't looking so rosy for this gentleman, Susan was instrumental in organizing and carrying out a compassionate visit from his son from LA. It lasted for 15 minutes but both men were so appreciative. It bonded Susan and the patient forever. When the patient hadn't seen Susan for a few days and then she worked with him again he'd ask her "where have you been, I've missed you!" When he seemed to become despondent, Susan decorated his room to cheer him up and played cards with him. She would order special meals for him and volunteer to work on the floor just to be his nurse. Susan even tried to organize "COVID champion" celebrations in anticipation of his and others leaving the hospital. This is compassion for others at its finest.
Outside of work, Susan also cares for her aging father who currently lives 3 hours away. She also switches shifts regularly with anyone needing it for any reason. Susan also does good things for the overall unit on 3w. Besides acting as an awesome relief charge nurse, she sees a problem and seeks to fix it. She didn't like the fall risk signs falling off of the door frames and suggested we use magnetic clips to hang them instead. Critical out of box thinking. Volunteerism. Compassion. What next? Well, Susan also seeks feedback about herself. She wants to grow and change herself. This is an admirable quality in anyone. She always asks what she could have done better in a situation and what about for next time. I love this about her. For all of these reasons, Susan Kendall is a DAISY Nurse.