SJH 4 West Nursing Team
January 2014
4 West
Team
,
RN
4 West
Saint Joseph Hospital
Denver
,
CO
United States
It is with pleasure that I offer a letter to support the nomination of the 4 West staff for the DAISY Award. Though this distinction is typically reserved for an individual nurse's performance, it is fitting that this team is recognized for the extraordinary work they do. This staff has demonstrated time and again their compassion and respect for some of the most challenging and vulnerable patients in our hospital. These are the patients with co-morbid medical and psychiatric illness or disturbed behaviors: the ones who have found the holes in the social safety net; the ones who tax the system and the individuals caring for them; the ones who by their nature demand a holistic approach to their care, something which modern healthcare can't often provide. The 4 West nurses demonstrate day after day their ability to connect with these individuals, to care for their biological illness with the same measure that they acknowledge their spiritual, social and psychological suffering. They become advocates for their patient's well-being and give of themselves in a way that goes beyond routine bedside care, always striving to improve the quality of life for these patients.
The recipients of the DAISY Award are recognized for their work as illustrated by a specific patient. It is not difficult to find examples of this kind of dedication on a daily basis but one current patient highlights the particular effectiveness of this team. Nurses are essential to the recovery of a patient and while it's one thing to feel under-appreciated for one's work it is another to be actively abused while carrying out one's duties.
Most days of one patient's four-month admission have been notable for a level of verbal hostility and aggression that few can tolerate. Each shift, harmful insults have been delivered in a package of expletives worthy of the saltiest dog. Physical aggression, often calculated, has been less frequent but expected. This is a patient with no apparent connections in the world, isolated in her misery. She visited an emergency department 20 times in the 6 months before her admission with an increasing pool of evidence that she could no longer provide for her basic needs. It was her 4 West nurse, the same one she just cursed, that she turned to each time she became dyspneic and thought she was dying as she developed another episode of pneumonia. It was this 4 West nurse and the one that followed and the one that followed that one who met her with compassion and concern and ensured she got the care she needed. It is these same nurses who catch her before she falls as they dodge her insults and curses. It is these same individuals who allow her dignity when she is at her most vulnerable and go out of their way to ensure her comfort, buying treats and tending constantly to her environment. They have cared for this individual with equanimity and grace, distinguishing themselves as consummate professionals. They have not been just "doing their job," they have been doing the "super human work" recognized by the DAISY Award.
The DAISY Award is an opportunity to remind ourselves that patients are admitted to the hospital not for elaborate tests or a visit by a physician but for dedicated nursing care. Our hospital and our patients are fortunate to have a team of nurses so driven by this fundamental principle. They see their patients as the complex individuals they are sometimes frustrating, scared, angry, lonely, or in pain and always in need of empathy and compassion.
Respectfully submitted,
David Handley, MD
The Honorees of the 4 West Team:
Hazel Marez, RN (4 West Clinical Manager)
David Allen, RN
Margaret Bayer, RN
Vanessa Beston, RN
Greg Boswell, RN
Katie Bunn, RN
Kathy Christie
Jenna Coleman, RN
Kathy Hollingsworth, RN
Eric Federico, RN
Nancy Fox, RN
Jovanni Garcia
Mary George, RN
Kristy Jordan, RN
Tara Huckvale, RN
Melanie James, RN
Mallory Leitner, RN
Corey Marlin, RN
Comfort Menso
Karen Michelson, RN
Kaylin Milenski, RN
Kim Minor, RN
Toshiko Moore, RN
Amy O'Neill, RN
Haity Perez, RN
Denise Perkovich, RN
Karla Quezada
Samantha Regel, RN
Roxsana Rivas
Elizabeth Richards, RN
Hector Rivera
Christie Rose, RN
Jolene Rush, RN
Nichail Salinas
Betty Scott
David Settles
Paige Stoudt, RN
Francine Thomas
Julie Vitello, RN
Denise Ybarra, RN
The recipients of the DAISY Award are recognized for their work as illustrated by a specific patient. It is not difficult to find examples of this kind of dedication on a daily basis but one current patient highlights the particular effectiveness of this team. Nurses are essential to the recovery of a patient and while it's one thing to feel under-appreciated for one's work it is another to be actively abused while carrying out one's duties.
Most days of one patient's four-month admission have been notable for a level of verbal hostility and aggression that few can tolerate. Each shift, harmful insults have been delivered in a package of expletives worthy of the saltiest dog. Physical aggression, often calculated, has been less frequent but expected. This is a patient with no apparent connections in the world, isolated in her misery. She visited an emergency department 20 times in the 6 months before her admission with an increasing pool of evidence that she could no longer provide for her basic needs. It was her 4 West nurse, the same one she just cursed, that she turned to each time she became dyspneic and thought she was dying as she developed another episode of pneumonia. It was this 4 West nurse and the one that followed and the one that followed that one who met her with compassion and concern and ensured she got the care she needed. It is these same nurses who catch her before she falls as they dodge her insults and curses. It is these same individuals who allow her dignity when she is at her most vulnerable and go out of their way to ensure her comfort, buying treats and tending constantly to her environment. They have cared for this individual with equanimity and grace, distinguishing themselves as consummate professionals. They have not been just "doing their job," they have been doing the "super human work" recognized by the DAISY Award.
The DAISY Award is an opportunity to remind ourselves that patients are admitted to the hospital not for elaborate tests or a visit by a physician but for dedicated nursing care. Our hospital and our patients are fortunate to have a team of nurses so driven by this fundamental principle. They see their patients as the complex individuals they are sometimes frustrating, scared, angry, lonely, or in pain and always in need of empathy and compassion.
Respectfully submitted,
David Handley, MD
The Honorees of the 4 West Team:
Hazel Marez, RN (4 West Clinical Manager)
David Allen, RN
Margaret Bayer, RN
Vanessa Beston, RN
Greg Boswell, RN
Katie Bunn, RN
Kathy Christie
Jenna Coleman, RN
Kathy Hollingsworth, RN
Eric Federico, RN
Nancy Fox, RN
Jovanni Garcia
Mary George, RN
Kristy Jordan, RN
Tara Huckvale, RN
Melanie James, RN
Mallory Leitner, RN
Corey Marlin, RN
Comfort Menso
Karen Michelson, RN
Kaylin Milenski, RN
Kim Minor, RN
Toshiko Moore, RN
Amy O'Neill, RN
Haity Perez, RN
Denise Perkovich, RN
Karla Quezada
Samantha Regel, RN
Roxsana Rivas
Elizabeth Richards, RN
Hector Rivera
Christie Rose, RN
Jolene Rush, RN
Nichail Salinas
Betty Scott
David Settles
Paige Stoudt, RN
Francine Thomas
Julie Vitello, RN
Denise Ybarra, RN