Have you ever met a real-life ray of sunshine? Someone who actually makes the world a better place? Someone who restores you faith in humanity on a daily basis? Well, if you have not, I'd like to introduce you to Nurse Sarah. She was born to be a nurse, her compassion, empathy, and love for the patients proves that. She is the RN Care Manager for all of Dr. L's Medicare Advantage patients, a population of patients who are vulnerable and unsure how to navigate their health and or daily life often times these patients are battling serious health conditions and feel alone and scared. Sarah has taken this panel of patients and treats them all as if they were her actual family. The way she listens to them, actually listens to them is something you cannot teach someone to do, she has a natural nurturing way about her that puts these patients at ease with nothing more than a phone call. She has to have hard conversation about end of life care and one particular patient's journey to Hospice care is why I am nominating her for this award.

X is a hardheaded, stubborn man, who has a giant heart that is protected by a wall of fear. He has been a patient of Dr. L's for more years than I can count, and he is one of those patients who is always very down, angry and difficult to talk to, costing him relationships with friends and family. He has lived in pain for years and recently was diagnosed with ALS. This diagnosis obviously devastated him, and he was angry at the world and anyone who worked in healthcare. To say Sarah had an uphill battle to gain the trust of X would be the world's biggest understatement. She started out just listening to him, calling him, and in a way only Sarah could make sure he knew she cared about him. She wanted what was best for him, and she would be his voice if he didn't have one or wasn't strong enough to use it. His biggest complaint was how he was in so much pain and that the only thing keeping him alive was the fact that he loved his dogs. Sarah made it known that his dogs needed him and that she was going to see what options were available to him. It took weeks for Sarah to reach out to X so that he could begin to trust her. She would answer each of his calls as if she was just thinking about him and was about to call him (the way a grandma says, "I was just thinking about you" when you call her). Sarah dug her boots in & started making calls to see if he qualified for palliative/hospice care. This would be a game changer for X as it would allow him more flexibility in his pain management and thus give him the best quality of life, for the time he had left. I heard her on many occasions pleading his case, as with ALS, they can linger in a state that doesn't let them qualify for those resources. After more phone calls than I can count, Sarah was able to get a visiting nurse to go out to his home so he didn't have to drive or try to figure out a ride to the doctor's office. She knew if she could get someone to see X the way she did, they would surely help him & that is exactly what happened. She was able to get him enrolled in hospice care. This means his pain would be better managed, and a plan could be made to ensure he would have the best quality of life. With his ALS being terminal, X started discussing how he and his mother were not on speaking terms. and that he had some regrets about that.  Once he got started with hospice, his pain was far better controlled. This allowed him to concentrate less on his pain and more on what he wanted his end of life to look at. With the multiple phone calls between him and Sarah, and her LISTENING to him, and his sadness about leaving this world without having closure with his mother, and mind you, it's Christmas time, Sarah convinced him to pick up the phone and call his mother. Trust me when I say, talking X into doing anything, is a miracle in itself. Yet, she got him to do just that. Because of her, he was able to spend possibly his last Christmas with his mom & family. 

As a patient advocate, she holds other departments and resources accountable when they say they are going to do something. If something falls through the cracks, she's the first to alert someone of this and ensure it doesn't happen again. She does this without assuming its someone's fault and just wants the outcome to be that it was addressed. If Sarah says she's going to do something, you can trust it's going to get done and done right. She is not afraid to ask questions and will ask why, if she doesn't understand a process. I feel strongly she does all of the above because she listens and communicates efficiently.  
 
Because Sarah has made it her mission to learn the ins and outs of the resources available to our patients, she is able to assist patients in navigating their healthcare needs. Because she is so empathetic, this comes across clearly to her patients when she verbalizes her concerns about their health and safety. They are more willing to listen to her when she educates them on a diagnosis/treatments, plan of care, end-of-life planning, personal safety, and options for care.  

Sarah is passionate about patient care. Because of this, she is constantly reading and researching healthcare resources for patients. Instead of sticking to the old tried-and-true options, she is always willing to listen to patients' ideas and thoughts. If they are reasonable, she will research them and bring them to the teams to discuss. The resources she has personally found benefit not only her specific patient population but any patient in need.   

I can sum up how Sarah exemplifies all of the above with one word: COMMUNICATION. part of communication is listening. sarah is always willing to listen and doesn't just jump in with answers. She lets people finish their thoughts. She then reiterates what has been said, thus letting the person know they were heard, and then she starts communicating her response. This is not just with patients, but also staff. She has no problem asking questions and is always willing to let you bounce thoughts and ideas off of her. She never makes you feel ignorant about asking any sort of questions. She is honest and if she doesn't know the answer, she says that, following it up with, but I will find out and let you know. She says in such a way that you absolutely trust she will. She feels blessed to be a patient advocate, and you should see the excitement in her eyes when she is able to accomplish something that a patient thought was impossible. She is the true, honest definition of a NURSE.