Claire Sellers
September 2017
Claire
Sellers
,
BSN, RN
5 Heart
Spartanburg Medical Center
Spartanburg
,
SC
United States

 

 

 

Recently on 5 Heart we had an emotional patient from New York with a complex history. The patient was taken from New York in an RV, with no stops for food or pain medicine, to another medical center. The patient was then transferred to SMC. The patient had brain and liver cancer with extreme pain and required decreased stimuli. When the patient arrived to the floor, Claire sat in the patient's room and rubbed her head to calm her down and decrease her pain. Claire had the patient for 3 straight days and got very familiar with the patient's needs. Claire began to advocate for the patient's decreased stimulation and worked on trying to get her code status changed to a DNR. She went above and beyond the call of duty because, even though she thought the patient needed comfort care and non-invasive treatment, she still maintained her professionalism and provided the care the patient's family requested. This patient had multiple siblings who could not agree on a care plan for this patient. Claire helped involve palliative care and advanced care planning in order to provide the patient with the best possible care. The family had a complex dynamic and took approximately five hours per day to coordinate discharge planning. Claire had other patients but went above and beyond to create a calming and relaxing space for this patient. She proved she was the patient advocate when she supported the patient's needs when the family members' wishes were different than hers. This was hard for Claire, but she handled it professionally and put the patient first. I know this patient will always remember the care and compassion Claire Sellers had for her.