February 2018
Darlene
Kincaid
,
RN
Health Connections
Eskenazi Health
Indianapolis
,
IN
United States
Darlene Kincaid's favorite holiday is Halloween. She dresses up, and I mean seriously dresses up, with the joy and excitement of a 7-year-old, and her enthusiasm is contagious. I tell you this because Darlene brings that same zest with her each time she clocks into work at Health Connections. She has worked as a triage call center RN here for the past 12 years. She treats each caller with total professionalism, respect and patience and I'm sure her listeners can't tell that she has done this a thousand times. She never tires of explaining to worried mothers that their child's fever is a good thing, and she coordinates trauma and burn transfers statewide with ease. She is always smiling and is a joy to work with. But that's not all Darlene does for Health Connections. Each year Darlene and her husband escape our cold Indiana winter dreariness by going to Arizona for 3 months. They really enjoy that sunny, fun time together. This year, however, Darlene is still in Indiana while hubby is laying by the pool. Why? The Health Connection area has been understaffed for a while. Now all the empty positions have been filled but all the new hires are still in their training periods. Darlene, knowing that no one wanted to work the night shift, cheerfully stepped up and volunteered to stay behind to staff nights until the new nurses were ready to leave the nest. Tonight is Darlene's 35th straight night shift and she's still smiling. She has missed the warmth of Arizona and her husband but has brought her own sunshine every night to Health Connections. She is a unique individual, a compassionate nurse and the hardest working person I've ever met.