Role Model Compassionate Care: 
Liz Lago has been working in the MICU at the York Street Campus for more than six years and was an RN in Florida prior to moving north. She has excellent assessment and critical thinking skills and is an expert clinician. Liz possesses a keen intelligence and a big heart. This basket of attributes allows her to confidently and fully understand complex patients. With this knowledge, Liz is able to listen to her patients and their families, answer their questions, and provide compassionate care with confidence. As a charge nurse, or as a preceptor or neighbor, Liz is able to model these behaviors to the MICU staff. We continue to receive positive feedback about Liz’s empathetic approach from patients, families, and providers. She is an enormous asset to the MICU care team.

Special Connection:
While our goal is to help patients heal and hopefully resume the activities they once enjoyed, not all cases go that way in the MICU. Death can be an uncomfortable subject, and many healthcare professionals struggle when talking about it. Liz excels in providing care for patients and their loved ones during end-of-life situations. Her confidence in these moments and ability to speak candidly enables her to develop powerful therapeutic relationships with patients and families. Recently, Liz was mentioned in the obituary of a patient that she cared for during their last days, “Finally, the family recognizes and thanks the amazing staff at the Yale-New Haven Hospital during B’s final days and hours, particularly her nurse, Liz, who provided comfort to B when she needed it most.” Clearly, Liz was able to develop a trusting relationship. Her compassion and empathy was enormously important to both the patient and the family.

Significant Difference:
Liz has recently switched to working the daytime shift for a variety of reasons. But before she did that, she utilized her skills and confidence during a recent overnight shift, working “outside the box” to make a special difference in one patient’s stay in the MICU. Liz was caring for a patient who was deeply saddened by her hospitalization and struggling with her illness. The patient was having difficulties sleeping and had been confiding to Liz about her fears and depression. She explained to Liz that she missed simple things, like watching a sunrise. Later that shift, Liz safely got the patient into a recliner with wheels and connected her to a transport monitor and portable oxygen. Liz moved the patient out of her room and to the end of the hallway, where a floor-to-ceiling window provided an excellent view of the sunrise. Liz pulled up a chair, and together, they watched the dawn of the new day. The patient was extraordinarily grateful for that moment, and it was a moving moment for other staff members who witnessed it.