We had a patient that Christine Barton and I were managing together. The patient was a new diabetic, and the patient was being managed for multiple other conditions. However, as a nurse, Christine realized that there was a huge issue that we have with regard to managing patients with newly onset diabetes. Specifically, while we’re able to take care of them in the hospital and take care of everything they need here, they were not being set up properly for discharge outside of the hospital. Specifically, they did not have a good protocol in place to get diabetic nutrition on board as well as teaching and education with regards to insulin use, checking sugars, and such.

A lot of times we completely ignore this as providers and just expect that it can be done. She was able to identify this severe lack in our protocol and wrote a very important email regarding this issue that was brought up. She was not only proactive but also active in finding a solution with specific recommendations that we can do to make sure this happens. I was very impressed by her abilities to have always been not only caring and bright but also outgoing and professional. There is not enough. I can say about her leadership potential as well as understanding exactly why nurses are so important to care for the patients. She has helped many patients by sticking up for them and identifying this important but overlooked need.