Boris has been with the VNA as a Hospice Nurse for less than a year, and yet his impact on our team, patients, their families as well as our community of care has been indelible. His daily work encompasses his commitment to ensuring everyone understands the hospice goals of care. He has a unique ability to use the patient’s current condition to teach and mentor. He constantly shares his knowledge and skills in his preceptorship with team members, facility managers, and staff. He works closely with our HHA team on improving patient care and maintaining accurate patient care plans. Our HHA team collectively expressed how they feel more confident in their delivery of care because of his supervision. Many families have called to express how they could not have dealt with the dying of their loved ones without his help in preparing them. Boris collaborates and consistently seeks information to support patients' admissions and symptom management options. He will exhaust all possible courses of action to achieve positive outcomes.

An example of this: He works mainly in 2 facilities where the unit managers are reluctant to increase the dosage of the pain medications. Over time, his persistent actions and patient advocacy have actually changed the thinking of the nurse managers. Because of his communication and relationship-building skills, we have been able to increase the number of patients we can serve in those facilities. Having Boris join our team was one of the best decisions of my career. I am so proud to work with him for many reasons, including his flexibility and contributions to our team and the steadfast support of first-class patient care.