Wuddassie has always been an amazing nurse, since the beginning when I first met her. She has always been the epitome of a team player. However, in the last 2 weeks, she has really gone above her assigned post to keep the emergency room flowing as smoothly as possible, even in hectic, busy times. She has been going out of her way helping with patients who are not even assigned to her.

Last week, I had a patient who was challenging to work with secondary to altered mental status. The patient was a difficult stick. Peripherally, she had very difficult veins to start an IV on. The patient had a port, but the nurse assigned to the patient was having difficulty accessing the port. We were at a standstill in attempting to obtain blood from the patient. The last option was to attempt an EJ IV, but the patient and family were not comfortable with this option. Wuddassie stepped up and offered to help me and the assigned nurse with the patient's port. Wuddassie was able to keep the patient calm and access the port seamlessly and quickly much to the patient's relief after we initially struggled with it. We were able to obtain all necessary blood work thanks to her and did not have to attempt an EJ after all.

Second example: I also had a female adolescent patient who needed a urine cath. The patient was very nervous about having to have an in/out cath performed for the first time. she was also not comfortable with her assigned nurse being a male, understandably. Again, we were at a standstill until we could obtain urine from the patient. Wuddasie again stepped up and volunteered to help with this patient, even though they were not assigned to her. She worked with the patient and was able to obtain urine swiftly much to the patient's relief.

Additionally, on the shifts Wuddassie has worked in triage, even if she is busy, she always steps up and asks the providers for their permission to begin putting orders in on patients waiting in triage. She has been starting IVs in triage in an effort to begin patient work-ups in triage, while they are waiting to be placed in their rooms. It helps the patients who are waiting in triage to feel like something is at least being done while they are waiting and it makes their waiting times not feel quite so long. It also helps the providers with shorter patient dispositions if most of their lab results are back by the time they see the patient. Wuddassie is an amazing nurse! The staff and patients appreciate her for it!