Deb is one of the most incredible people I know. She is a wife, a mother of three, and an amazing nurse. She has a very strong faith, and is able to give so much of herself without losing what makes her unique. I, along with many others, admire her for that. I am amazed at how she balances it all. She gives her heart and soul to her patients and families, and it is obvious they adore her as well. Caring and compassion should be her middle name: Deb “caring and compassion” Friedman.
She personifies what you want in a nurse here at Children’s. She is compassionate, caring, professional, safe, and effective. She strives to provide exceptional care every single day that she is here. Even when she isn’t, she is always searching for ways to better our unit, and our hospital as a whole. Deb recently initiated a “Positive Workplace Initiative” and worked endlessly on ways in which we can help ourselves to become better employees and better ourselves individually. She recognized that at times we can all become negative with the stress of what we do and the care that we provide. She took that energy and redirected it; challenging us to commit to goals in order to address this issue. These goals were included in our annual performance evaluation. She also collaborated with our Leadership Team to establish a “Heart-to-Heart” open forum for staff. She, along with a few of her coworkers held multiple meeting with staff to determine our biggest stressors, and to help create a vision for the future of the CCBD. She then brought those ideas and concerns to leadership. She presented not only to our Leadership Team, but also to her coworkers. Her follow up was impeccable as well. She has committed to holding this Heart-to-Heart on an annual basis. Additionally, Deb represents the hospital annually by providing a presentation at the DAT School about nursing. She works with the marketing department each year to provide age appropriate materials at these presentations.
Obviously, Deb is an excellent communicator. She makes you feel that you are her highest priority. She literally stops what she is doing, looks at you, and gives you her full attention. Even when it is crazy on our unit (which, who’s kidding, this is the new norm), she still takes the time to make you feel that your conversation means more than anything else in the moment.
She builds incredible relationships both with her patients and families, but also with her coworkers as well. She goes above and beyond for her patients and families. She is often taking care of very complex patients, and is incredibly flexible with her patient assignments. She is always welcoming of new approaches in ways to better care for our population. She routinely reaches out to our Social Workers and Child Life Specialists to ensure that we are meeting the needs of the entire family. Deb is often recognized by her peers, patients, and families for her integrity, compassion, and trust. She is constantly recognizing her coworkers as well. It’s obvious she values them.
Deb utilizes evidenced based practice each and every day. She is a member of the fertility team here on the CCBD unit which was created as the result of research completed here at Children’s. The research showed that the vast majority of patients were not receiving information about fertility risks and preservation. As a result, the fertility team was created to provide consults for our patient population. She is currently the co-investigator working on COMIRB approval for another chart review/patient survey to further assess and develop the fertility consults.
She has also created a program to provide wigs free of charge to our patients. For our adolescent female patients, often one of the most devastating pieces of a cancer diagnosis is hair loss. Deb found a wig supplier to provide wigs at a discounted rate and secured funding from the volunteer association. Thanks to Deb’s creative innovation, we now have an easy system in place where patients can receive free wigs.