Katherine Tan
September 2024
Katherine
Tan
,
RN
Neuro Telemetry
Ascension Saint Alexius in Hoffman Estates
Hoffman Estates
,
IL
United States
Katherine stepped into her room and began speaking to her in their shared Philippine dialect of Bisdak.
Saint Alexius may not offer the comforts of home, and the people who work here might not be related, but that doesn't prevent the best of us from treating our patients and each other with the same kindness and care that might be shown to loved ones and family. Our latest DAISY Award honoree, Katherine Tan, has earned this token of our respect because she clearly regards personal connection and a sense of shared humanity as integral to the experience and challenge of healing.
Katherine's gifts were brought to our attention by a 70-year-old woman who'd been under her care on the third floor. This patient had been admitted with a brain bleed after suffering head, body, and facial injuries during a hard fall on a concrete surface. In addition to light-headedness and headaches, an acute fluctuation in her blood pressure also caused concern. Given her condition, a certain level of disorientation might be expected - but that wasn't the half of it. Until then, she'd never spent a single day in the hospital; moreover, she had lived much of her life in the Philippines, and English was her second language.
The physical and emotional trauma combined to feed a rising sense of panic in the patient, and it was likely mirrored in her unstable blood pressure. But then Katherine stepped into her room and began speaking to her in their shared Philippine dialect of Bisdak.
In the words of the patient, "The nurse that was assigned to me was heaven-sent. Because of her, I wasn't just a stranger in a hospital gown. She remembered people and events from our island, and helped me understand my condition and what they were doing to help me. She explained all the medical information I needed and looked after my comfort in every one of her visits. I feel I owe much of my recovery to Katherine. I was in pain and felt lost. I was in such great need and met an angel."
To find yourself injured or ill and in a hospital is to feel foreign and frightened. But we're blessed with nurses sharing a common first language. Its vocabulary is drawn from compassion, and its message is founded in Hope. Katherine is fluent in both, and it speaks well of her.
Katherine's gifts were brought to our attention by a 70-year-old woman who'd been under her care on the third floor. This patient had been admitted with a brain bleed after suffering head, body, and facial injuries during a hard fall on a concrete surface. In addition to light-headedness and headaches, an acute fluctuation in her blood pressure also caused concern. Given her condition, a certain level of disorientation might be expected - but that wasn't the half of it. Until then, she'd never spent a single day in the hospital; moreover, she had lived much of her life in the Philippines, and English was her second language.
The physical and emotional trauma combined to feed a rising sense of panic in the patient, and it was likely mirrored in her unstable blood pressure. But then Katherine stepped into her room and began speaking to her in their shared Philippine dialect of Bisdak.
In the words of the patient, "The nurse that was assigned to me was heaven-sent. Because of her, I wasn't just a stranger in a hospital gown. She remembered people and events from our island, and helped me understand my condition and what they were doing to help me. She explained all the medical information I needed and looked after my comfort in every one of her visits. I feel I owe much of my recovery to Katherine. I was in pain and felt lost. I was in such great need and met an angel."
To find yourself injured or ill and in a hospital is to feel foreign and frightened. But we're blessed with nurses sharing a common first language. Its vocabulary is drawn from compassion, and its message is founded in Hope. Katherine is fluent in both, and it speaks well of her.