Tina spends much of her time assessing the needs of her patients and learns about her patients' personal lives.
When providing care, she has a warming smile that ignites conversation and trust. Tina has this effect on her "frequent flyer" patients and on her patients who may only be with us once.
We have had a very sick patient with us for many weeks with a very unfortunate prognosis. Much of this patient's time is spent in her room and in a lot of pain. Tina has spent time with this patient both as her primary nurse and as her secondary nurse.
Tina spoke with the unit coordinator about fulfilling the patient's "last wishes" while inpatient here at KU. They were able to provide an authentic Mediterranean/Indian meal for the patient a day after Tina provided the request.
A day after, Tina came to visit the unit on her day off to ensure the patient received her food and enjoyed it, but she came with presents in hand. Tina spoke with the patient days before about distractions from pain in order to keep the patient from constantly concentrating on her physical pain and condition. The patient reported that art - specifically painting - was a very pleasurable experience.
Naturally, this triggered Tina's caregiving side and she knew what to do next. She provided the patient with a lap tray/easel for in-bed use along with a kit full of paints, pastels and colored pencils. The patient was shocked when Tina started setting the easel up and introducing supplies.
As a mother, nurse, coworker, and friend, I'm so proud to have Tina here on 15 to care for our complex patients with such grace, compassion, and incredible consideration.