Wesley Combs
December 2021
Wesley
Combs
,
RN, BSN
Heart Hospital 3 South
Baptist Medical Center Jacksonville
Jacksonville
,
FL
United States
There are no words to describe the impact that Wes has had on us. He is kind, friendly, compassionate, patient, approachable, and calming.
Nursing Care is all encompassing, we care for our patients, we care for our colleagues, we care for ourselves/families/communities, and we care for our future nurses (nursing students). In the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic when many hospitals are turning nursing schools away and saying 'no', Baptist Medical Center said 'yes'. When many nurses are refusing students because they 'are short staffed' and 'burned out', Wesley Combs said 'yes'.
Wesley is an RN at Baptist Medical Center, Downtown on Heart 3 South. This unit, typically a CCU, was converted to a COVID-19 surge unit with a combination of ICU and PCU COVID positive patients. This was the unit that one Jacksonville University nursing senior clinical cohort was assigned during their 7-week critical care rotation (which was on Saturdays). Wes (as he goes by), graciously, agreed to precept our students. There are no words to describe the impact that Wes has had on us. He is kind, friendly, compassionate, patient, approachable, and calming. Little did we or he know that our schedules would mirror so that we would be working every Saturday with him. The student nurses looked forward to clinical on Saturdays in hopes that Wes would be working and were relieved to see him when they arrived on the unit.
Due to unit staffing, Wes precepted 2 students simultaneously for the entire 7 weeks. Wes sought out opportunities, not just for the students he was precepting, but for all the students. He would direct them to rooms where he knew the patients were having a procedure performed, he sought out opportunities for the students to perform skills they hadn't had the opportunity to perform before, and he took the time to explain rationales and allow the students to process information and perform the tasks - never rushing them or making them feel inadequate. The students stated that he is a great teacher, he didn't make them feel unwanted, and he made them feel like 'he cared'. Most importantly, Wes made us feel welcome and made the students feel as if they were part of a profession that they will soon be stepping into.
Wes is positive, he always has a smile on his face, and he is always humble and kind, AND that is something that cannot be taught. He is inspirational and a role model. During a few of the previous clinical rotations the students have experienced 'eye-rolls', 'heavy sighs' and have felt ignored, unwelcomed, and burdensome to some of the seasoned nurses. In a profession that is plagued by a perpetual shortage - this is not the way to recruit or welcome our future colleagues. There are no words to express our gratitude, not only for the content learned, the continuity of his presence, his professionalism, his guidance, and, the infectiousness of his smile; but for the way he welcomed our next 'wave' of new nurses - for that, we are forever indebted to Wes. There is that one faculty member, that one clinical rotation (bad and good), or that one clinical preceptor that you will always remember from nursing school and we will be talking about Wes for years to come. The last thing, other than graduation, these nursing students will remember is how amazing their last clinical rotation (critical care) was at Baptist Medical Center - Downtown and how great the nurses were on Heart 3 South.
Wesley is an RN at Baptist Medical Center, Downtown on Heart 3 South. This unit, typically a CCU, was converted to a COVID-19 surge unit with a combination of ICU and PCU COVID positive patients. This was the unit that one Jacksonville University nursing senior clinical cohort was assigned during their 7-week critical care rotation (which was on Saturdays). Wes (as he goes by), graciously, agreed to precept our students. There are no words to describe the impact that Wes has had on us. He is kind, friendly, compassionate, patient, approachable, and calming. Little did we or he know that our schedules would mirror so that we would be working every Saturday with him. The student nurses looked forward to clinical on Saturdays in hopes that Wes would be working and were relieved to see him when they arrived on the unit.
Due to unit staffing, Wes precepted 2 students simultaneously for the entire 7 weeks. Wes sought out opportunities, not just for the students he was precepting, but for all the students. He would direct them to rooms where he knew the patients were having a procedure performed, he sought out opportunities for the students to perform skills they hadn't had the opportunity to perform before, and he took the time to explain rationales and allow the students to process information and perform the tasks - never rushing them or making them feel inadequate. The students stated that he is a great teacher, he didn't make them feel unwanted, and he made them feel like 'he cared'. Most importantly, Wes made us feel welcome and made the students feel as if they were part of a profession that they will soon be stepping into.
Wes is positive, he always has a smile on his face, and he is always humble and kind, AND that is something that cannot be taught. He is inspirational and a role model. During a few of the previous clinical rotations the students have experienced 'eye-rolls', 'heavy sighs' and have felt ignored, unwelcomed, and burdensome to some of the seasoned nurses. In a profession that is plagued by a perpetual shortage - this is not the way to recruit or welcome our future colleagues. There are no words to express our gratitude, not only for the content learned, the continuity of his presence, his professionalism, his guidance, and, the infectiousness of his smile; but for the way he welcomed our next 'wave' of new nurses - for that, we are forever indebted to Wes. There is that one faculty member, that one clinical rotation (bad and good), or that one clinical preceptor that you will always remember from nursing school and we will be talking about Wes for years to come. The last thing, other than graduation, these nursing students will remember is how amazing their last clinical rotation (critical care) was at Baptist Medical Center - Downtown and how great the nurses were on Heart 3 South.