Andrea Peterson
April 2017
Andrea
Peterson
,
BSN, RN
Clinical Resource Unit
Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center
Chicago
,
IL
United States
Andrea Peterson excels every day when it comes to caring for her patients emotional, mental, and physical well-being. However, with one patient, in particular, she truly went above and beyond.
R.P. had been a difficult patient for the other nurses to take care of. He was elderly, forgetful, had poor vision, used the call light frequently, and was in poor health. Other staff members had grown tired of this patient and had given him labels such as "needy" and "demanding." But Andrea saw this person, who others had struggled to find patience for, and was able to see past the labels to the lonely soul underneath.
Andrea took the time to Commit To Sit with the patient and find out what was really behind him using the call light so often. He told her that he was really lonely at home, and asked her if she could periodically come back into the room just to talk with him and keep him company. Andrea not only rounded on this patient hourly but took the time to sit with him and get to know him so that he wouldn't feel so alone. Through these conversations, Andrea found out R.P. liked to listen to movies, so Andrea sat and wrote out the number for every movie channel on AIMMC's network so that R.P. could navigate the channels more easily. Later that day, Andrea found out R.P. liked to listen to music when he walked outside his apartment building, but his radio was no longer working. Andrea sat with R.P. and helped him navigate Amazon to search for, order, and ship an inexpensive transistor radio to his home so it would be ready for him to use after discharge.
After several long conversations, R.P. told Andrea that he was really lonely and unhappy and that at home he had no one to talk to. Andrea took it upon herself to coordinate with our Care Management team to obtain Home Behavioral Health Services for R.P. after discharge.
Even though Andrea had a really busy day with multiple sick patients and multiple patients going to and from procedures, she still made a conscious effort to make time for this patient in particular. Andrea could sense that it wasn't just the ordered medications and tests that her patient needed, but a kind heart and a listening ear as well.
R.P. had been a difficult patient for the other nurses to take care of. He was elderly, forgetful, had poor vision, used the call light frequently, and was in poor health. Other staff members had grown tired of this patient and had given him labels such as "needy" and "demanding." But Andrea saw this person, who others had struggled to find patience for, and was able to see past the labels to the lonely soul underneath.
Andrea took the time to Commit To Sit with the patient and find out what was really behind him using the call light so often. He told her that he was really lonely at home, and asked her if she could periodically come back into the room just to talk with him and keep him company. Andrea not only rounded on this patient hourly but took the time to sit with him and get to know him so that he wouldn't feel so alone. Through these conversations, Andrea found out R.P. liked to listen to movies, so Andrea sat and wrote out the number for every movie channel on AIMMC's network so that R.P. could navigate the channels more easily. Later that day, Andrea found out R.P. liked to listen to music when he walked outside his apartment building, but his radio was no longer working. Andrea sat with R.P. and helped him navigate Amazon to search for, order, and ship an inexpensive transistor radio to his home so it would be ready for him to use after discharge.
After several long conversations, R.P. told Andrea that he was really lonely and unhappy and that at home he had no one to talk to. Andrea took it upon herself to coordinate with our Care Management team to obtain Home Behavioral Health Services for R.P. after discharge.
Even though Andrea had a really busy day with multiple sick patients and multiple patients going to and from procedures, she still made a conscious effort to make time for this patient in particular. Andrea could sense that it wasn't just the ordered medications and tests that her patient needed, but a kind heart and a listening ear as well.