I am a newer nurse and graduated from residency program not too long ago. I want to share a story that happened to me recently. About a week ago, my patient was confirmed brain dead. It was my first time seeing my patient die, so I didn’t know what to do. Shannon is one of our supervisors and was a charge nurse that day. It was around 6pm, the family was grieving from the loss, I didn’t know what to do as it was my first time on postmortem care. As I was overwhelmed with the deep sadness in the air, Shannon brought me to the breakroom to make sure I was okay and asked me if there was anything she could help me with. Shannon told me to take a break, and she took over for me. She advised the family members and informed them of what to expect. She was very respectful and professional when interacting with them.

However, the patient’s mom couldn’t bear the sadness and collapsed. Luckily, there were many people around her, and she wasn’t injured. Shannon called code MSET so that an ED nurse could come to provide care for the patient’s mom. She stayed with the patient’s mom to make sure she was okay until she was taken to the ED. Because of the chaotic event, I couldn’t finish my postmortem care. Shannon spent more time making sure I did everything I needed to do for the death checklist and let the oncoming nurse know about the situation, and pass postmortem care along with a good explanation. Shannon reached out to the EAP onsite counselor, my manager, and my coworkers to check on me. I was able to express my feelings about the rough evening, and I felt so much better.

It was very tragic to see how my patient’s family suffered from the loss. However, every cloud has a silver lining, it was an opportunity to learn that I have a very supportive team. Nursing is hard, but what makes this job worthwhile is not only seeing our patients getting better, but also knowing that we have a team member that we can count on. That helps me feel proud of my career path and helps me bring myself back to work without hesitation.

Shannon was my first preceptor, and I was her first preceptee. She has also mentored many other new grads. She guided us in our nursing journey and helped us to set short and long-term goals. Shannon has always been a source of encouragement and an advocate for us, which has helped many of us on our path to becoming an RN2. I hope she knows how thankful we are to have her. For me, it’s a blessing to see a wonderful nurse like Shannon growing as a wonderful leader as well. I am very proud of her as her preceptee, mentee, coworker, and nurse..

This nomination is evidence of Caritas: 
1. Embrace (Loving Kindness) Practice loving-kindness
3. Trust (Transpersonal Self) Nurture individual spiritual beliefs and practices
9. Minister (Humanity)  Assist with physical, emotional and spiritual human needs