Lori demonstrates passion for nursing on a daily basis. She is kind, compassionate, and treats each patient as she would her own family. We see this care on a daily basis but it was the care of R, that truly brought it home to us. R was with our unit for 96 days. She came to us with the hopes of receiving a liver transplant. With the ups and downs of her stay, Lori would touch base with her no matter where she was. (she would have to go back and forth to the ICU). For R's birthday, Lori brought decorations in to help celebrate her birthday. While R was in dialysis Lori decorated her room so when she returned she would be surprised. R was truly surprised and felt that she had a second family.
As a certified Palliative care and hospice nurse, Lori works to ensure that the patients start down this path when appropriate. Seeing that R would no longer be a candidate for transplant because of her rapid decline, Lori fought for the hospice and palliative team to be introduced to Rs care team. This allowed R to make decisions about her care while she was alert and oriented. Something Lori knew R would want. R and her family felt that Lori cared about her. R would request her as her nurse because of the care she provided. When R knew that the end was coming closer she requested her even more.
Lori helped to make R more comfortable and helped with the closure that the family needed. When R passed at the hospice house, the family made sure that Lori got the message at that early hour. Even though R had left Lori's direct care, the family knew that that her caring nature went past the scheduled shift. We get the pleasure of seeing Lori work with these patients every day and see the spirit of nursing shine through her.