Mary Claire Fagan
June 2021
Mary Claire
Fagan
,
BSN, RN
Pediatric Intensive Care Unit
Riley Hospital for Children at Indiana University Health
Indianapolis
,
IN
United States
Mary got to know him and his family very well and was able to care for him in a way that worked well for his needs.
It has been such a pleasure watching Mary grow into an expert on our unit. Unfortunately, we see many young nurses come and go because it is not an easy job to take on. She has experienced many challenges yet has not let that lay heavy on her heart. She takes each unique patient care experience and adds it to her skill set of being a fabulous bedside RN. She has taken on the role of precepting new nurses to our unit as well, which is not required in the job skill. We are very lucky that she has chosen to take this responsibility because she welcomes all of our new nurses with arms wide open and is such a wonderful role model to our baby nurses coming on board!
There are many patient care examples that stand out to me to share about her, but there are two, in particular, I want to share. Recently, she had admitted a patient to our unit that had a procedure done that we have yet to admit since I've been an RN here (6 years). She did not let the unknown of this patient's medical diagnosis scare her; instead, she took the initiative to learn all she could about this patient's medical status and stood behind IU Health in delivering the best care possible for this young patient.
Without hesitation, she came in the next day and traveled with our IU Health transport team to University Hospital where she could receive a special transfusion that again, she did not know very much about (this procedure has only been performed around 5 times at University Hospital). As a newer RN, these situations can be stressful to deal with. It isn't very often that we have to travel with a patient to another hospital; but I can say, she kept her patient safe and comfortable during these very difficult and scary procedures. She had excellent closed-loop communication with our team at Riley while she managed the patient on her special medication drip to control her blood sugars so they wouldn't get too high/low during her medical treatment procedures.
These situations can be very frustrating since there isn't a standard "protocol" of treatment like many other diagnoses that walk through the doors at Riley, but without hesitation, she stepped up to deliver the absolute best care possible to this patient and her family. Despite how busy, frustrating, or chaotic her assignments can be, she handles them with such grace and always has a positive attitude and willingness to help beyond her own patient assignment.
Another situation with a patient I want to mention is a kid that we admitted who was very combative and difficult to medically manage related to his underlying developmental diagnosis. Despite this patient not liking "change" in his routine and sometimes even physically trying to harm nurses, Mary worked with this patient several days in a row without asking for a break (which can easily be needed in situations such as this one). She got to know him and his family very well and was able to care for him in a way that worked well for his needs. She would speak to him in a way he could understand, incorporate his family as much as possible (as this was important for his medical management because he was used to being around them), and would sit in his room for nearly her whole shift to comfort him and ensure he wasn't alone.
She never backs down from a challenge and is always willing to go above and beyond to take care of some of our sickest patients. Mary is one of the best nurses in the PICU, and is taking her education to the next level to obtain her MSN to further her knowledge and teach others how to be amazing caregivers.
There are many patient care examples that stand out to me to share about her, but there are two, in particular, I want to share. Recently, she had admitted a patient to our unit that had a procedure done that we have yet to admit since I've been an RN here (6 years). She did not let the unknown of this patient's medical diagnosis scare her; instead, she took the initiative to learn all she could about this patient's medical status and stood behind IU Health in delivering the best care possible for this young patient.
Without hesitation, she came in the next day and traveled with our IU Health transport team to University Hospital where she could receive a special transfusion that again, she did not know very much about (this procedure has only been performed around 5 times at University Hospital). As a newer RN, these situations can be stressful to deal with. It isn't very often that we have to travel with a patient to another hospital; but I can say, she kept her patient safe and comfortable during these very difficult and scary procedures. She had excellent closed-loop communication with our team at Riley while she managed the patient on her special medication drip to control her blood sugars so they wouldn't get too high/low during her medical treatment procedures.
These situations can be very frustrating since there isn't a standard "protocol" of treatment like many other diagnoses that walk through the doors at Riley, but without hesitation, she stepped up to deliver the absolute best care possible to this patient and her family. Despite how busy, frustrating, or chaotic her assignments can be, she handles them with such grace and always has a positive attitude and willingness to help beyond her own patient assignment.
Another situation with a patient I want to mention is a kid that we admitted who was very combative and difficult to medically manage related to his underlying developmental diagnosis. Despite this patient not liking "change" in his routine and sometimes even physically trying to harm nurses, Mary worked with this patient several days in a row without asking for a break (which can easily be needed in situations such as this one). She got to know him and his family very well and was able to care for him in a way that worked well for his needs. She would speak to him in a way he could understand, incorporate his family as much as possible (as this was important for his medical management because he was used to being around them), and would sit in his room for nearly her whole shift to comfort him and ensure he wasn't alone.
She never backs down from a challenge and is always willing to go above and beyond to take care of some of our sickest patients. Mary is one of the best nurses in the PICU, and is taking her education to the next level to obtain her MSN to further her knowledge and teach others how to be amazing caregivers.