Addie McClendon
May 2021
Addie
McClendon
,
RN
BMT, Hematology -- Acuity Adaptable Unit
Stanford Hospital and Clinics
Palo Alto
,
CA
United States
Addie took it upon herself to ask her friends on another unit for a few items.
Addie has proven to be a team player on our unit. She is an advocate for nurses, patients, and caregivers; a strong clinician; a leader; and an overall caring and compassionate soul who goes above and beyond for her team and patients. The challenges our unit has faced in the last few months have been magnified by 2 long-term patients who were with us for over 4 months.
We had a young patient that was 26 years old and unfortunately was not able to make it home. Our second patient was in her 60s and thankfully made it home to spend her remaining days with family and pets. I recognize that the work we do lends itself to situations like these all the time, however, how Addie has stepped up to help her team and our patients have been remarkable.
When we knew that our young patient was going to pass away with us, Addie knew that his mother would need support, and since our unit did not have a comfort care cart, Addie took it upon herself to ask her friends on another unit for a few items. She provided the patient's mom with a blanket, battery tea lights, and most importantly, her son's heartbeat in a bottle. In addition, she created a care package of chapstick, lotion, tea, and snacks. Addie also knew that her team would need support to process our patient’s passing, so even before he died, she had reached out to KARA (a trauma/grief support organization) to schedule a debrief.
The timing was perfect, our patient passed early Friday morning, and within the hour, we were having a debrief for staff. Within 2 weeks of our young patient's passing, our 60-year-old patient was nearing the end of her life. This patient and her husband are loved by our staff and once the patient had made the decision to comfort care, we did not want to waste any time. Our case manager worked hard to make all the arrangements to transfer her home within 48 hours. As soon as Addie knew of the plan, she immediately went into what I call "Addie mode".
Within 24 hours, she purchased a blanket, and hand sewed a heart with the patient's name, her husband's name, and signed it "with love from EGR." She also created a card with personalized messages written by staff along with their photos for the patient and her family to keep. Of course, there wasn't a dry eye in the room when the patient left to be with her friends and family. Addie demonstrated that patients are so much more to us than just "patients"- she acknowledged the patient on a personal level and that the care provided went beyond medicine. The most admirable part of this story is that this is just day-to-day work for Addie. She naturally exemplifies DAISY qualities on a daily basis.
We had a young patient that was 26 years old and unfortunately was not able to make it home. Our second patient was in her 60s and thankfully made it home to spend her remaining days with family and pets. I recognize that the work we do lends itself to situations like these all the time, however, how Addie has stepped up to help her team and our patients have been remarkable.
When we knew that our young patient was going to pass away with us, Addie knew that his mother would need support, and since our unit did not have a comfort care cart, Addie took it upon herself to ask her friends on another unit for a few items. She provided the patient's mom with a blanket, battery tea lights, and most importantly, her son's heartbeat in a bottle. In addition, she created a care package of chapstick, lotion, tea, and snacks. Addie also knew that her team would need support to process our patient’s passing, so even before he died, she had reached out to KARA (a trauma/grief support organization) to schedule a debrief.
The timing was perfect, our patient passed early Friday morning, and within the hour, we were having a debrief for staff. Within 2 weeks of our young patient's passing, our 60-year-old patient was nearing the end of her life. This patient and her husband are loved by our staff and once the patient had made the decision to comfort care, we did not want to waste any time. Our case manager worked hard to make all the arrangements to transfer her home within 48 hours. As soon as Addie knew of the plan, she immediately went into what I call "Addie mode".
Within 24 hours, she purchased a blanket, and hand sewed a heart with the patient's name, her husband's name, and signed it "with love from EGR." She also created a card with personalized messages written by staff along with their photos for the patient and her family to keep. Of course, there wasn't a dry eye in the room when the patient left to be with her friends and family. Addie demonstrated that patients are so much more to us than just "patients"- she acknowledged the patient on a personal level and that the care provided went beyond medicine. The most admirable part of this story is that this is just day-to-day work for Addie. She naturally exemplifies DAISY qualities on a daily basis.