Over the past several years Holly has been a role model of compassion and caring for her team. Her team was challenged with many changes to their team and environment through the end of 2015 and 2016 and as a result were a TIER III department in the 2016 Engagement survey. Holly and her team took the feedback and results from the survey and developed a robust action plan and Holly created excitement and engagement in the unit. As a result, they moved to a TIER I department scoring an Engagement Indicator >90th percentile in the 2017 survey.
Holly also provided commitment and leadership for her team around quality and patient safety. They incorporated fun and exciting methods of tracking falls, hand hygiene rates, and adherence to Infection Prevention standards. This resulted in 0 CLABSI and CAUTIs for 11B, a decrease in C-Diffs and a >60% reduction in falls in 2017 compared to 2016. Holly took the opportunity to celebrate each milestone of success with her team often providing treats and meals to reward and recognize them.
Most recently, 11B had an extraordinarily challenging patient whom many of the team had interactions with, including Holly. The patient was on 11B for a total of 7 days and during that time was erratic, demanding and uncooperative resulting in a few nurses wondering why they had chosen nursing as a profession. Holly demonstrated a great deal of care and compassion for both this patient and her team. She stood by her team and supported them on a daily basis working alongside them to try and manage the patient's behavior, consult with the MDs, Clinical Case Management, etc. to try and find ways to better handle the patient's care needs including her psychosocial needs. She met frequently with the patient and family to try and resolve any concerns they had while maintaining a trusting and supportive environment with her team.
On the day of discharge for this patient, Holly spent 4-5 hours with this patient trying to meet her needs and provide an effective discharge. Her interactions with the patient were calm and caring and she truly listened to the patient, even though a great deal of the conversation was irrational. The patient even stated that she "trusted" Holly, she could see "caring" in her eyes. The discharge of the patient ended in a disturbing manner for the team. Holly never left her team's side. She was there even as the patient was taken downstairs to leave the hospital, accompanying the patient along the way. Once she returned to the floor, she took some time to talk with her team and understand where they were on an emotional level. She utilized both Code Lavender and a visit from the Employee Assistance Program Counselor to provide extra resources for her team as they worked through the events surrounding the care of the patient and the discharge process.
Holly Vasquez creates an environment where attributes of trust, compassion, mutual respect, continued professional development and ethical behavior is modeled and supported.
She motivates staff with a shared vision and enthusiasm to achieve better outcomes for themselves and their patients.
She is accessible, available and responds to the needs of others, encouraging critical thinking and problem-solving for individuals and with the context of the team.
Holly is a role model for compassion and exemplary practice.