Betsy Farmer
April 2021
Elizabeth "Betsy"
Farmer
,
BSN, RN
Emergency Department
Northeast Georgia Medical Center
Gainesville
,
GA
United States

 

 

 

Betsy best exemplified impacting life's most sacred moments in the best way possible for our family and I am truly grateful that she was at work on that day.
Betsy was among the team of phenomenal nurses who cared for my sweet niece as she and her family finally decided it was time to give up her fight with liver and colon cancer. My niece and her husband had been at the ED for a couple of days before this decision was made. Although Betsy was not my niece's primary nurse at the beginning of the shift, Betsy responded to my niece's worsening blood pressure. Betsy was aware of my niece's situation and my niece's primary nurse was with another patient in an emergent situation. Betsy asked the primary nurse if she could help take over my niece's care and that nurse agreed. Betsy talked with my nephew and told him it was time to let our family know that my niece did not have much time left on this earth. Because of COVID visitation restrictions and modifications to visitation guidelines, Betsy told my nephew that anyone who wanted to spend a few moments with my niece to give them her name, and she would make sure that we got in to visit. Boy she did not know what she was getting into when she gave those instructions. My family was given visitation with my niece, nephew, and my great niece. They truly needed our presence and love during my niece's final hours. Betsy made sure that my niece was transferred to an actual room (so that my niece's 17-year-old daughter could have some private time with her mother) and was transferred to the floor shortly after she left at shift change. Betsy best exemplified impacting life's most sacred moments in the best way possible for our family and I am truly grateful that she was at work on that day back in January. She deserves this recognition and so much more for the things that she does at the hospital for patients and their families.