Susan is the type of nurse who can fill many shoes. Nurses, NSTs, Unit Secretaries, Advanced Practice Nurses, Administrative Coordinators and even the Unit Manager know they have a confident leader when Susan is in charge. She embraces change and pays attention to detail, supporting her co-workers along the way. She is a mentor to both experienced and new graduate nurses, she is the unit's 'go to' preceptor because unit leadership hopes to grow their own in delivering the same level of exceptional clinical care with high quality patient experience that Susan delivers on a daily basis. Her care is noticed not only by her peers, but she also is mentioned positively by patients nearly every month in the units returned Press Ganey surveys, and is frequently recognized on Leader and Volunteer rounding.
Susan handles patients who need encouragement with just the right amounts of tough love and compassion, a balance that she figures out and delivers seamlessly. I remember specifically an example from a while ago that demonstrates the gentle persuasion that Susan provided in order to assure the clinical details of care were carried out as ordered. An elderly patient admitted to our unit, who was confused at times, would become extremely anxious about the prescribed dressing changes to her foot. I happened to be passing by her room as Susan and the NST were preparing to perform the dressing change. Susan was talking to the patient, telling her what to expect, and reassuring her that she was going to get through this. Susan then suggested they all sing a song while they were changing the dressing to keep the patients mind distracted from what was happening. They patient agreed, and so here were all three of them (Susan, the NST and the patient) singing "Jesus Loves Me" together while doing the dressing change, putting the patient at ease.
This is just one example of the consistent care that is Susan's provides. We should all strive to provide the same gold standard care and patient experience that she does every day. I would like to be Susan when I grow up!