As a colleague of Jessie Fiest, I am recognizing her for her ability to do amazing things with HAIR! On the Burn ICU, Jessie is not only known as nurse, charge nurse, and CNC but she is also known as the unit hairstylist.
As ICU nurses we are constantly thinking about all the tasks and interventions that need to be done to save our patients' lives. Meanwhile, we can easily miss what may actually feel more pressing and important to the patients; i.e. washing their hair, brushing their teeth, or just getting cleaned up. Jessie is not only an excellent and intelligent critical care nurse, but she also does a wonderful job making her patients look/feel their best.
For months Jessie insisted that our director add hair washing basins to the list of supplies in the stock room. She now uses these to shampoo/condition long hair and then braids it to the patients' liking (while finding their favorite Pandora station to play in the background). Jessie even took it upon herself to go out and buy a set of electric hair clippers so she could use her creativity to provide "barber style" haircuts to the patients on the burn unit. I remember a specific patient we had on the unit for about 9 months, he lost most of his fingers and function of his hands so couldn't do much for himself. Every few weeks Jessie would find time to shave his face and give him a new haircut. She even got so creative to make lightning bolt strikes on the side of his head. It was the highlight of his week!
With her great sense of humor, Jessie goes to great lengths to get a laugh or a smile out of her patients. Her easy going personality and goofy dance moves bring light to patients in some of the most difficult times. She has this incredible ability to talk to every patient like she's known them for years. She is open and vulnerable but also maintains a professionalism that makes every patient feel comfortable with her as their nurse.