Cheryl Lehman
January 2019
Cheryl
Lehman
,
RN
ICU
Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center
North Chicago
,
IL
United States

 

 

 

I would like to recognize Cheryl Lehman not only for what I see in her every time we work together but especially for what I saw the other day. It was reported to us that a patient we've had in the ICU for a long time was becoming depressed and losing his motivation to do anything, including everyday activities. He is a long term ventilator patient who has his own ventilator at the bedside, but the last few days he was feeling anxious and asking to be placed on the hospital ventilator. As I walked passed his room after rounds, I saw him in bed looking somber. Cheryl was assigned to be his nurse, and I'm so glad that she was. Later that day when I passed his room again, he was up in the chair, using his own ventilator and with what looked like a little smile on his face. Cheryl has that calming way about her that always has a positive effect on her patients. She not only nurses her patients, but she's a nurse to her fellow nurses, always taking care of us too. She inspires me to take a step back, a deep breath, and tell myself that it will all be okay.