At Swedish Ballard, I have had the pleasure to work with outstanding nurses. That being said, I would like to recognize someone who I think exemplifies what nursing is and who nurses should be. Snezana Dimovski is one such nurse.
In the early days of COVID, I was assigned to 4 South to be a support RN for the core staff who were caring for COVID patients. At that time, our knowledge of COVID was limited and changes in practice occurred daily. It was a bewildering and frightening time due to the lack of knowledge and ambiguity surrounding COVID.
At a small break, I asked about her feelings about her assignment to care for COVID patients and she said, "I am healthy, it would be better for me to catch COVID instead of my coworkers who may not do as well." It was draining work with layers of PPE and protocol to follow to keep everyone safe, working in an environment where policies seemed to change by the minute with new information regarding the disease.
After that day, every time I was assigned to work 4 south, I noticed that Snezana was assigned to care for COVID patients and practiced with compassion, smiling, and was a pleasure to work with. I would like to take this opportunity to point out that this individual not only had compassion for her patients but also for her peers. She placed herself in harm's way to protect those caregivers who were more likely to suffer from severe symptoms of COVID.
I appreciated her and I hope that you will too. Thank you for the opportunity to recognize a truly awesome nurse.