Cheryl Courtway
October 2022
Cheryl
Courtway
,
RN
ICU
Memorial Hospital Shiloh
Shiloh
,
IL
United States

 

 

 

Cheryl took her scrub hat off to show the patient she would show her messy hair and then the patient could remove her wig.
Cheryl Courtway RN, joined the MHE ICU this past year and is a breath of fresh air! She is an exceptional team player, skills are on point, confident yet gentle. While rounding on a patient, the patient expressed sincere gratitude for this RN. Patient background: currently in treatment for cancer which has made her anxiety extremely difficult to manage. She has had confusion and the team wanted to check for Mets to the brain. This would require an MRI to be done on this patient. The patient was immediately anxious about going to have the scan to the point of possibly refusing. Cheryl walked the patient through the process, and what to expect, and went as far as holding this patient’s hand during the scan to help meet the needs of this patient. This ultimately reduced the patient’s anxiety and helped keep still to successfully complete the scan. Not only was this above and beyond the standard of care but it goes further than that! The touching thing is this patient wears a wig and was very apprehensive to remove this for the scan related to comfort and dignity. Cheryl took her scrub hat off to show the patient she would show her messy hair and then the patient could remove her wig. This gesture to bring the attention and anxiety away from the patient is the embodiment of compassion, respect, excellence, safety, and teamwork! This nurse deserves recognition for her skills, work ethic, and something some people never fully acquire EMPATHY.