Stephanie Mendoza embodies the true definition of holistic nursing and the meaning of teamwork. She really enjoys being a nurse and it shows in all that she does. She has a positive attitude and I have rarely seen her upset except when she feels that we have not done all that we could for a patient. She pays attention to detail and is a true patient advocate.
When a mother was in labor and she was concerned about the baby's heartrate, Stephanie followed her chain of command until she got the results that the patient needed. The father of the baby was so grateful and relieved that the baby was delivered healthy and crying, he said "God sent Stephanie here as our angel". The mother stated "She was very persistent and kind. There are no words that I can use to describe what she has done for us. She came into the room and I immediately saw that she was concerned, but she reassured us that everything was going to be fine. Now we have a beautiful baby, please tell her that we will be forever grateful".
Stephanie has the patient and family in mind no matter what the situation. When she was pregnant and on light duty she went to another unit because she was asked to take the bladder scanner to that unit. Stephanie was the person performing CPR on the patient that needed help. She was not for a minute thinking about herself, only for the patient. She is an excellent role model for other nurses and a fabulous preceptor for new hired nurses. Its apparent that she truly enjoys teaching and is available to those nurses as a resource even when they get off on their own.