Lisa Simmons
March 2022
Lisa
Simmons
,
RN
4 Wiser
University of Mississippi Medical Center
jackson
,
MS
United States
Every morning when she comes in, the first thing she does is stop in the hall put her hands together in the shape of a heart and kick her leg up and say "heart face."
We had a patient that had been here over a week and the staff had not been able to give the patient a proper bath. He is 22, nonverbal and autistic. Lisa Simmons has been his Nurse for several days and talked to his mom about what the patient likes. She knew that he would not consent to a bed bath and she knew he had an obsession with water. She helped the patient get in the bathtub to sit and soak. Even though he could not speak to say thank you, you could tell by his demeanor. He stayed in the bathtub and soaked. We have a Doctor here that has witnessed Lisa's continuing hard work and he could not say enough good things about her. The thing is, she treats all of her patients like that.
Another incident happened that speaks volumes for Lisa's advocacy for all patients. The patient went to AKU and had a rapid called because of volume overload. The patient was scheduled for the OR today and needed to be dialyzed first and needed a blood transfusion. The OR came to get the patient and Lisa told them that the patient needed to go to AKU first and needed the blood, but they told her they could just give the blood in the OR. Lisa tried to call the attending Surgeon and the Nurse Practitioner, but could not get either of them and was adamant that this patient not go to the OR yet because she was already wheezing and really needed to be dialyzed. She was able to catch the Doctor on the unit and he went in to see the patient and stopped the patient from going to OR due to the fluid overload and said that she must be dialyzed first. All Lisa could think about was that this patient was a DNR and if they had gotten into the OR they would go into failure and be intubated and probably have a bad outcome.
Anybody who knows Lisa knows her trademark sign ... "heart face." Every morning when she comes in, the first thing she does is stop in the hall put her hands together in the shape of a heart and kick her leg up and say "heart face."
Earlier this summer one of our beloved co-workers found out she had cancer. Every day at 11:05 Lisa would make sure that the staff were in the breakroom to pray out loud for this person. The reason she chose 11:05 because 11/05 is the Nurse's birthday.
Another incident happened that speaks volumes for Lisa's advocacy for all patients. The patient went to AKU and had a rapid called because of volume overload. The patient was scheduled for the OR today and needed to be dialyzed first and needed a blood transfusion. The OR came to get the patient and Lisa told them that the patient needed to go to AKU first and needed the blood, but they told her they could just give the blood in the OR. Lisa tried to call the attending Surgeon and the Nurse Practitioner, but could not get either of them and was adamant that this patient not go to the OR yet because she was already wheezing and really needed to be dialyzed. She was able to catch the Doctor on the unit and he went in to see the patient and stopped the patient from going to OR due to the fluid overload and said that she must be dialyzed first. All Lisa could think about was that this patient was a DNR and if they had gotten into the OR they would go into failure and be intubated and probably have a bad outcome.
Anybody who knows Lisa knows her trademark sign ... "heart face." Every morning when she comes in, the first thing she does is stop in the hall put her hands together in the shape of a heart and kick her leg up and say "heart face."
Earlier this summer one of our beloved co-workers found out she had cancer. Every day at 11:05 Lisa would make sure that the staff were in the breakroom to pray out loud for this person. The reason she chose 11:05 because 11/05 is the Nurse's birthday.