Jane recently oriented me to our unit this summer. Despite my own years of experience as a nurse, what immediately stood out to me was Jane’s daily compassion for her patients. Jane has been a nurse at our hospital for over 38 years. She has maintained a high level of care and compassion despite going through several challenges with her Operating Room unit throughout the years. Jane has adapted to change several times and still comes out of it full of empathy for others. This is incredible, considering her long tenure with our operating room, which has included surviving a hospital buyout, the Covid years, a move to a new hospital building, a hospital system merger, and now a new electronic medical record. Yet, her compassion has persisted.

Throughout it all, Jane always places her patient first. She is famous for this in our unit. As just one example of her dedication, I was on a case recently when Jane stepped in to provide lunch relief. Unfortunately for lunch, the surgical plan was quickly changing. What was a laparoscopic case quickly turned into a full open surgery with a second surgeon to assist and a complete change of direction for the operative plan. Instead of avoiding the challenge by moving to a different room, Jane immediately took action to assist. She and her team went above and beyond to make sure that the patient had a seamless transition during an unexpected and complex open procedure. If you know how these things go, this is not an easy feat. Her expert knowledge of operative care, specific instrumentation, and best practices enabled her to communicate and integrate seamlessly with the seven staff members already involved in the case.

Jane is calm under pressure and chooses to lead through a difficult moment she could have easily avoided. Instead, she chose to provide top-notch care to our patients and help provide the support that the two surgeons needed for a rapidly evolving case. Within minutes, her expert plan was perfectly executed, and we went back to business. She has built a remarkable amount of trust and companionship with her fellow OR team members and never fails to support and mentor new staff. It is my honor to submit Jane Brow for recognition for the daily compassion, care, empathy, and professionalism she displayed that day.

Thank you, Jane, for a job well done and for representing yourself, our unit, and our profession in such an outstanding fashion!