Colleen went out of her way to do the right thing for a patient who was outside of the hospital and had never been a patient on her unit. When she arrived to work at 9:00 one day, she noticed a patient in a wheelchair sitting outside of the ED. The patient had a prosthetic leg and an obvious problem with his other foot. There were crutches hanging off the back of the wheelchair. Colleen got a friend and went outside to talk to the man. She contacted the ED charge nurse, patient services, and social work to help determine a way to get the man to a safe area. She ended up arranging for a van to pick the man up to take him home.

Colleen is the epitome of an excellent nurse. She goes the extra mile to make sure the patients are cared for completely. I don’t know of another nurse in the hospital, who doesn’t work in the ED, who would have taken notice of a patient who looked homeless on the street from 9 floors up, and gone outside in severe heat to help them navigate social services of the city to make sure they were safe. Colleen makes situations better whenever she is involved and it is a pleasure to work with her.