There are times as a manager that you meet certain team members and you think to yourself, if I ever found myself or my family in need of hospice, THIS is the nurse that I would want caring for me. In observing the care that Brenda Kelly provides to her patients, I know that she is one of these nurses. Brenda goes above and beyond in every case, showing genuine compassion and superb clinical judgment, but she also always presents the human side to every interaction she has with her patients, their families, and her team.
There was recently a young patient with metastatic cancer, who declined very rapidly. Brenda went to go make a visit and discovered the patient was transitioning. The family was not coping well with the patient's transition. While the patient was comfortable, Brenda knew the family needed something more to be able to cope better with the patient's passing. She reached out to Extended Hours, the team chaplain, and assisted in gathering all of the patient's extended family close by. The family was extremely nervous and Brenda knew that she could not leave this family alone. She stayed for 6 hours with the family, until the patient passed away comfortably, with everyone at the bedside.
In the course of her visit, Brenda turned what could have been a traumatic passing of a young mother into a "good death", that the family will be able to look back at with peace and understanding. The most inspirational part of Brenda's care is that she does this for each and every patient whose home she walks into. This is not a one-time event of exceptional care, every instance of care that Brenda provides is exceptional. She has the ability and insight to walk into a patient's home and provide exactly what is needed at that moment, for that patient and for that specific family.