August 2024
Elizabeth
Fields
,
RN, MSN, AMB-BC
Adolescent Behavioral Health
UK HealthCare
Lexington
,
KY
United States
As a leader, there is so much she is responsible for, but she still put everything else on hold to comfort me in those moments. She put all of the work she had to do down to talk to me and then to go talk to my son.
As a mother who recently experienced one of the most painful and challenging events of my life when my son attempted to take his own life, I want to take a moment to ensure that I am doing my part now to recognize an amazing leader within the organization that I both work for and trust to care for my own family.
I have known Elizabeth Fields for several years. I worked with her at the bedside some time ago, and I have encountered her a few times over the last few years, both in the adolescent clinic and, most recently, in the hospital in the adolescent behavioral health unit. Oftentimes, as nurses, we forget to call out the amazing people we work with and just chalk it up to the everyday work we all do caring for others as our chosen profession. Some people just do it differently. Elizabeth is one of those people. When my son was admitted, I saw her in passing in the hallway as we entered the unit. She stopped and spoke to me for a brief moment, hugged me, wiped tears from my face, told me that everything was going to be ok and that they would take good care of my son. She told me to call her if I needed anything or had questions and then she went on down the hall to help the staff who were dealing with a patient that was upset, yelling, and acting out.
We worked through the consent process with the nurse, and then we told our son goodbye as we weren’t able to stay with him. I waited for a while, and then I called her. I was a panicked and confused mom, not a nurse in that moment. She answered and offered me a listening ear to help me process all of the events that had taken place, and then she took more time than she probably had that day, to explain the unit, and the work that they would be doing. She talked to me about the providers and the schedule they had established for the patients every day and she assured me that they were going to do everything they could to help my child. I was able to breathe a sigh of relief for the first time in several days. She reassured me that I was not alone and that I wasn’t a bad mother, and that I hadn’t failed my child because he was struggling. After that, and without me even asking her to, she talked with my son, when I spoke with him on the phone later that evening, he told me she was so kind to him that she and the other nurses made him feel safe and that it was ok not to be ok, and not to know what to feel and that she told him that if he wanted to talk that he could ask for her at any time. He told me she came to their groups and participated in yoga and music therapy and even just walked through the hallways and stopped at the desk checking in on everyone, patients, and the staff.
As a leader, there is so much she is responsible for, but she still put everything else on hold to comfort me in those moments. She put all of the work she had to do down to talk to me and then to go talk to my son. She made time in her day to engage with the patients and the staff, which are all things an extraordinary leader should do but oftentimes don’t have time for. On top of all of these things, I know she teaches clinicals, mentoring our baby nurses coming into the profession in one of the craziest times in healthcare. I’m also pretty sure she is back in school furthering herself more as a leader and future provider, on top of having her own family. She is exhibiting exemplary professional practice, serving as a role model for others in multiple capacities. She is clearly helping to create and foster an environment in the behavioral health space that offers care and compassion to every patient and family regardless of their circumstances. She is committed to being responsive and accessible to whoever needs her in their time of need, which I’m sure is not always on her timeline, and she is representing UK HealthCare and nurse leadership in a way that I can only describe as admirable. I am grateful and so appreciative of everything she did personally to help me and my family in our time of need, and I am even more thankful that she is in the role she is in doing the incredibly hard work that she does every day as a leader in our organization during what is likely the most significant mental health crisis we will ever see among our children.
Elizabeth deserves this DAISY Nurse Leader Award and so much more, but this is the best way I could think of to honor and thank her for all she did for me and for the work she continues to do every day for a group of kids who desperately need the help that the behavioral health unit provides. Shout out to Elizabeth and the amazing team in the behavioral health unit for all you do every single day to help kids that are in their greatest time of need, you all are doing amazing work that many others couldn't do.
I have known Elizabeth Fields for several years. I worked with her at the bedside some time ago, and I have encountered her a few times over the last few years, both in the adolescent clinic and, most recently, in the hospital in the adolescent behavioral health unit. Oftentimes, as nurses, we forget to call out the amazing people we work with and just chalk it up to the everyday work we all do caring for others as our chosen profession. Some people just do it differently. Elizabeth is one of those people. When my son was admitted, I saw her in passing in the hallway as we entered the unit. She stopped and spoke to me for a brief moment, hugged me, wiped tears from my face, told me that everything was going to be ok and that they would take good care of my son. She told me to call her if I needed anything or had questions and then she went on down the hall to help the staff who were dealing with a patient that was upset, yelling, and acting out.
We worked through the consent process with the nurse, and then we told our son goodbye as we weren’t able to stay with him. I waited for a while, and then I called her. I was a panicked and confused mom, not a nurse in that moment. She answered and offered me a listening ear to help me process all of the events that had taken place, and then she took more time than she probably had that day, to explain the unit, and the work that they would be doing. She talked to me about the providers and the schedule they had established for the patients every day and she assured me that they were going to do everything they could to help my child. I was able to breathe a sigh of relief for the first time in several days. She reassured me that I was not alone and that I wasn’t a bad mother, and that I hadn’t failed my child because he was struggling. After that, and without me even asking her to, she talked with my son, when I spoke with him on the phone later that evening, he told me she was so kind to him that she and the other nurses made him feel safe and that it was ok not to be ok, and not to know what to feel and that she told him that if he wanted to talk that he could ask for her at any time. He told me she came to their groups and participated in yoga and music therapy and even just walked through the hallways and stopped at the desk checking in on everyone, patients, and the staff.
As a leader, there is so much she is responsible for, but she still put everything else on hold to comfort me in those moments. She put all of the work she had to do down to talk to me and then to go talk to my son. She made time in her day to engage with the patients and the staff, which are all things an extraordinary leader should do but oftentimes don’t have time for. On top of all of these things, I know she teaches clinicals, mentoring our baby nurses coming into the profession in one of the craziest times in healthcare. I’m also pretty sure she is back in school furthering herself more as a leader and future provider, on top of having her own family. She is exhibiting exemplary professional practice, serving as a role model for others in multiple capacities. She is clearly helping to create and foster an environment in the behavioral health space that offers care and compassion to every patient and family regardless of their circumstances. She is committed to being responsive and accessible to whoever needs her in their time of need, which I’m sure is not always on her timeline, and she is representing UK HealthCare and nurse leadership in a way that I can only describe as admirable. I am grateful and so appreciative of everything she did personally to help me and my family in our time of need, and I am even more thankful that she is in the role she is in doing the incredibly hard work that she does every day as a leader in our organization during what is likely the most significant mental health crisis we will ever see among our children.
Elizabeth deserves this DAISY Nurse Leader Award and so much more, but this is the best way I could think of to honor and thank her for all she did for me and for the work she continues to do every day for a group of kids who desperately need the help that the behavioral health unit provides. Shout out to Elizabeth and the amazing team in the behavioral health unit for all you do every single day to help kids that are in their greatest time of need, you all are doing amazing work that many others couldn't do.