May 2011
Susie
Rhode
,
RN
VAD Coordinator
UofL Health - Jewish Hospital
Louisville
,
KY
United States
Susie Rhode is a dedicated RN for the VAD (Ventricular Assist Device) team. Susie gives her soul to the program and finds herself working 60 hours a week, and amazingly she always has a smile on her face. Susie is dedicated to the VAD patients and their families and wants to ensure that these individuals are fully integrated into the VAD process from beginning to end. She educates the patients at their understanding level and will work well past her “end of day” to make sure all questions are answered. Susie is so compassionate to everyone, and on a daily basis I am amazed that she has not become too tired to really give her job all she has. I can honestly say that Susie gives 100% and plenty more to a job she really does love and appreciate.
For the past several years Susie has arranged a Holiday Celebration for all VAD patients and their families, the physicians who refer and take care of the VAD patients, the staff who interacts with this patient population and just everyone. Her goal is for the patients to feel appreciated but also to showcase these people to the staff and make a statement that this is a worthwhile therapy. This past year Susie arranged for the patient’s or family members to show off their talents, there were singers, painters, model car makers and musicians. Susie arranged for food and goodie bags for the patients at no expense to the hospital.
Susie also does nursing education for the hospital, and this is to ensure that the staff nurses that will be taking care of VAD patients are comfortable with a complex patient (as VAD patients can be). She does an educational session each month and also arranges with the VAD companies to come in for hands on teaching with staff several times a year. Susie creates the curriculum and creates the power points, and many times she changes her presentation because things change so quickly in VAD world and she does not want the info to be stagnant. And in addition to the teaching for nursing staff, she has gone to numerous departments to educate, and also created a power point education and submitted to Health Streams so a basic understanding of VAD’s could be spread throughout the hospital and to let all know – this is what we do. She has done all of this with her creative flair and tries to make this as interesting and relevant as possible. She has a goal to go out to more community providers and teach them VAD 101 and beyond.
Susie has also been asked to be a mentor to other VAD programs across the country, to teach the art of what makes a successful VAD coordinator and program. She has been asked to speak at training seminars the CII and has worked to network with other centers to share her knowledge and gain more information for the program at JHSMH.
Susie was and continues to be instrumental in preparing and then following up on the Joint Commission Certification for Destination Therapy. She attended all meetings and worked on the JC binder (2 enormous volumes), pulled and wrote policies, created new nursing care plans for VAD, multidisciplinary team education forms for patients, and on and on. Susie worked extra weekends (no pay mind you) to assist with the JC preparation, and again made the core group of us working on JC laugh and smile.
Susie has an enormous heart for all people and especially her VAD patients. She chooses to see the good in people and when they fail, she works to pick them up, not judge.
For the past several years Susie has arranged a Holiday Celebration for all VAD patients and their families, the physicians who refer and take care of the VAD patients, the staff who interacts with this patient population and just everyone. Her goal is for the patients to feel appreciated but also to showcase these people to the staff and make a statement that this is a worthwhile therapy. This past year Susie arranged for the patient’s or family members to show off their talents, there were singers, painters, model car makers and musicians. Susie arranged for food and goodie bags for the patients at no expense to the hospital.
Susie also does nursing education for the hospital, and this is to ensure that the staff nurses that will be taking care of VAD patients are comfortable with a complex patient (as VAD patients can be). She does an educational session each month and also arranges with the VAD companies to come in for hands on teaching with staff several times a year. Susie creates the curriculum and creates the power points, and many times she changes her presentation because things change so quickly in VAD world and she does not want the info to be stagnant. And in addition to the teaching for nursing staff, she has gone to numerous departments to educate, and also created a power point education and submitted to Health Streams so a basic understanding of VAD’s could be spread throughout the hospital and to let all know – this is what we do. She has done all of this with her creative flair and tries to make this as interesting and relevant as possible. She has a goal to go out to more community providers and teach them VAD 101 and beyond.
Susie has also been asked to be a mentor to other VAD programs across the country, to teach the art of what makes a successful VAD coordinator and program. She has been asked to speak at training seminars the CII and has worked to network with other centers to share her knowledge and gain more information for the program at JHSMH.
Susie was and continues to be instrumental in preparing and then following up on the Joint Commission Certification for Destination Therapy. She attended all meetings and worked on the JC binder (2 enormous volumes), pulled and wrote policies, created new nursing care plans for VAD, multidisciplinary team education forms for patients, and on and on. Susie worked extra weekends (no pay mind you) to assist with the JC preparation, and again made the core group of us working on JC laugh and smile.
Susie has an enormous heart for all people and especially her VAD patients. She chooses to see the good in people and when they fail, she works to pick them up, not judge.