I sit next to Nichole and witness her going above and beyond for her patients all the time. From squeezing patients who really need to be seen into an already jam-packed schedule, to taking the time that she really doesn't have to spend a few minutes on the phone with a patient to comfort them when they get unexpected not-so-good news. But recently, I feel like Nichole really went the extra mile for a patient.
The patient had an abnormal mammogram/ultrasound that warranted an MRI. As usual, the order was sent to imaging to have the MRI done and Nichole expected imaging to call the patient to schedule. After about a week, the patient had not yet been contacted and was very apologetic about "bugging" Nichole. Nichole reassured the patient that she was not bugging her and acknowledged that it's very stressful when you get abnormal results and are waiting to see whether or not it is cancer and what the next step is going to be. She immediately called imaging who informed her that the MRI needed a prior auth and they had not yet had time to complete that but were still within their protocol window and would do it and call the patient soon. However, when she hung up with imaging, Nichole took it upon herself to immediately contact the insurance company and spent 40 minutes on the phone with them to complete the pre-auth so that the patient could get her MRI ASAP. The patient was so thankful and relieved to know that she would have a plan soon.
While an hour doesn't seem like much, for a Nurse running a clinic for 7 physicians, an hour is A LOT of time to spend on ONE patient. But that extra hour she spent for that patient (doing something that really isn't even her job) probably saved the patient several more days of worrying and waiting. What a kind thing to do and I admire her as a person, as a friend, and as a fellow nurse.