Jennifer Nguyen
June 2020
Jennifer
Nguyen
,
BSN, RN
Operating Room
Parkland Health & Hospital System
Jennifer has been in the doffing area since mid-March. She has gotten to know each employee so well, they treat each other as family instead of coworkers. She asks each employee how their day is going and how they are really doing.
Jennifer Nguyen is a DAISY Nurse because of her compassion, respect towards all employees, her stewardship, and collaboration with the TCU unit.
There was one day in particular that this nurse was very compassionate not only to me but to everyone in the OR. We were working on a difficult case and things were not going as planned, the team was sending a lot of intra-operative specimens to pathology to see if certain areas they were operating on were cancerous. I could not keep up with all the specimens they wanted to send. This particular nurse came in at the perfect time and started assisting me in gathering all the specimens so they could get to pathology in a timely manner to be evaluated. She must have known I was drowning because it was as though an angel walked through the doors to save me right when I was thinking it was impossible to send all the specimens the surgeon was giving me. This nurse stayed over her shift to help the entire team out. Because of her concern for not only me but also my coworkers in the room she helped make a very tough situation easy. Many hands make light work, and nurses like her are known as angels.
Within our Department we come in close contact with several people, this employee treats every single person with respect. Once a case is over, she assists the OR aides in cleaning the room to help make their job easier and to be efficient in the turnover process. She helps make a stressful turnover time fun for everyone who is helping in the room. Although, everyone is trying to work very efficiently she is making her coworkers laugh and smile. By doing this it makes a stressful, hard day become easy. It is amazing to see the employees in her room smile and that smile continues for the rest of the day.
There is not a day that goes by that this nurse is reminding the Faculty, residents, and scrub nurse in the room to use the suture or items on the back table. She reminds the team to manage the resources that are available and on the sterile field before opening another item. She always asks the team if they really need it, if they do she'll open it. But, she advocates for the patient on the table and makes sure nothing goes to waste. By showing this stewardship she is saving not only the patient a lot of money, but also Parkland.
As COVID arrived in Dallas, Parkland decided to transform the Operating Suite into the TCU/COVID unit. This meant a lot of people were going to be invading our space. Due to the decrease of surgical cases, the nurses in the Operating Suite were given other responsibilities. One of which was in the "doffing" area, which is a large room that every single person in the TCU comes to remove their PPE. She assists each employee to remove the PPE appropriately. This particular nurse has been in the doffing area since mid-March. She has gotten to know each employee so well, they treat each other as family instead of coworkers. When someone comes through the doffing area she has a positive upbeat attitude. She asks each employee how their day is going and how they are really doing. Every single TCU employee has commented how he or she appreciates this nurse and her positive attitude. They have said that coming out of the TCU they are hot and tired and seeing this nurse makes each of them smile. She not only collaborates with the Operating Suite employees but now the TCU heroes.
As Florence Nightingale said, "I am of certain convinced that the greatest heroes are those who do their duty in the daily grind of domestic affairs whilst the world whirls as a maddening dreidel." This nurse is not only a hero to her coworkers in the Operating Room suite and the TCU, but to each and every patient she cares for.
There was one day in particular that this nurse was very compassionate not only to me but to everyone in the OR. We were working on a difficult case and things were not going as planned, the team was sending a lot of intra-operative specimens to pathology to see if certain areas they were operating on were cancerous. I could not keep up with all the specimens they wanted to send. This particular nurse came in at the perfect time and started assisting me in gathering all the specimens so they could get to pathology in a timely manner to be evaluated. She must have known I was drowning because it was as though an angel walked through the doors to save me right when I was thinking it was impossible to send all the specimens the surgeon was giving me. This nurse stayed over her shift to help the entire team out. Because of her concern for not only me but also my coworkers in the room she helped make a very tough situation easy. Many hands make light work, and nurses like her are known as angels.
Within our Department we come in close contact with several people, this employee treats every single person with respect. Once a case is over, she assists the OR aides in cleaning the room to help make their job easier and to be efficient in the turnover process. She helps make a stressful turnover time fun for everyone who is helping in the room. Although, everyone is trying to work very efficiently she is making her coworkers laugh and smile. By doing this it makes a stressful, hard day become easy. It is amazing to see the employees in her room smile and that smile continues for the rest of the day.
There is not a day that goes by that this nurse is reminding the Faculty, residents, and scrub nurse in the room to use the suture or items on the back table. She reminds the team to manage the resources that are available and on the sterile field before opening another item. She always asks the team if they really need it, if they do she'll open it. But, she advocates for the patient on the table and makes sure nothing goes to waste. By showing this stewardship she is saving not only the patient a lot of money, but also Parkland.
As COVID arrived in Dallas, Parkland decided to transform the Operating Suite into the TCU/COVID unit. This meant a lot of people were going to be invading our space. Due to the decrease of surgical cases, the nurses in the Operating Suite were given other responsibilities. One of which was in the "doffing" area, which is a large room that every single person in the TCU comes to remove their PPE. She assists each employee to remove the PPE appropriately. This particular nurse has been in the doffing area since mid-March. She has gotten to know each employee so well, they treat each other as family instead of coworkers. When someone comes through the doffing area she has a positive upbeat attitude. She asks each employee how their day is going and how they are really doing. Every single TCU employee has commented how he or she appreciates this nurse and her positive attitude. They have said that coming out of the TCU they are hot and tired and seeing this nurse makes each of them smile. She not only collaborates with the Operating Suite employees but now the TCU heroes.
As Florence Nightingale said, "I am of certain convinced that the greatest heroes are those who do their duty in the daily grind of domestic affairs whilst the world whirls as a maddening dreidel." This nurse is not only a hero to her coworkers in the Operating Room suite and the TCU, but to each and every patient she cares for.