I wanted to take the time to recognize a nurse on CIU for her amazing care and incredible heart. As nurses, we are people who take the extra steps, go out of our way, and strive for compassion while caring for our patients. But Abbigail is a nurse, a kind human being, an absolute gift to the nursing world. After being pulled to the unit for a shift and learning Abbigail was the charge nurse, I knew it was going to be a good day. Although I do not work with her on her unit, I know what kind of person she is...she's bubbly, compassionate, loving, encouraging, and lives with a grateful heart. It started off as a busy day with patients going for procedures and changes were being made in the plan of care for most all of my patients. Abbigail stepped in, encouraged me to take a break to eat my breakfast, and handled all of the issues that came about while she was caring for my assignment. When returning, I learned she took it upon herself to give the appropriate medications, update family members and doctors all while having the best attitude. She is the epitome of teamwork, stepping in to help whenever she can!
But what truly made me see her in an even brighter light (if that was even possible) was this. My patient needed to be discharged. Being an ICU nurse, discharges are something I lack experience with, Abbigail kindly stepped in without my asking. She took it upon herself to prepare the paperwork and after fine-tuning and following up with the doctor about the instructions, she even educated the patient on his discharge instructions while I was busy with my other patients. After coming out of the room, she updated me about how she felt as though the patient didn't truly understand the instructions. Abbigail said, "He nodded his head in agreement, but I just don't think he really understands and I want him to know how to take care of himself when he leaves." She asked what I thought about his learning capabilities since I was caring for him most of the shift and I could tell something just didn't "feel right" to her. She went back and forth on what to do all while verbalizing her respect for him being a war veteran, learning that his sister serves as his resource and support, an obvious sign that not only did she attempt to educate the patient on his discharge paperwork, but she took the extra time to learn about him as an actual person. Abbigail took it upon herself to then call the patient's sister and go over, in great detail, every discharge instruction, every medication and reassured the patient's sister the pharmacy will have the patient's medications ready because she had already called to verify that information.
Although Abbigail was the charge nurse for half of the CIU census and was incredibly busy throughout the shift, she did not allow my patient to leave until she knew this patient had the best opportunity to do well post-discharge. Abbigail took an incredible amount of time for this one patient to ensure he knew how to best care for himself and involve his family in his plan of care. Her level of compassion supersedes many who are called into this profession. The level of patient advocacy she displayed is something I pray my family members receive while in the hospital. Abbigail probably believes what she does is "just her job" but I can tell you, I've been a nurse at this facility for over 13 years and I can say she is a special person who adheres to the highest clinical and ethical standards of this nursing profession. She is a true DAISY Nurse.