What makes a fabulous nurse? I found out the answer to this question last week, because I met one. My father was in the CPRU prior to pacemaker placement. Lindsey Grieser was his nurse. She welcomed us with a smile and personal greetings. She listened patiently to all my father's jokes, which of course, were just a front for the nervousness he was feeling. She herself, had a sense of humor. Lindsey is young, and therefore I am guessing has not been a nurse for very long. However, she was as seasoned a nurse as I have seen. Instead of being glued to her computer screen, she stood at the bedside at eye level with my father and just had a conversation. She gathered information like a pro. Every step of the way, Lindsey was explaining the plan of care and what to expect. She made eye contact, she touched my father, she asked about him, she asked questions and waited for the answer. She knew when those answers were veiled in a joke. We knew the plan of care. When there was a delay for his procedure, she came in and informed us. She even wrote the phone number where she could be reached on my dad's whiteboard, so we could call and ask how things were going while dad was having his procedure. This made it easier for us to leave and eat in the cafeteria, knowing we could reach her at any time. She took my sister's and my number so that she could call us if there was any emergency.
Lindsey orchestrated all of my father's care, and he could not have been in any better hands. When X-ray came to get him after the procedure, she was there. When Dr. G came to see him before and after the procedure, she was there. When the gal from the pacemaker company came to adjust dad's pacemaker afterward, she was there.
She went over the discharge instructions with me, and then with dad separately. She sent Dad's prescription to the outpatient pharmacy so I could pick it up before we left.
I purposely did not tell Lindsey I was a Patient Experience Coach for a hospital until we were leaving. When we left, I told her how much I appreciated her and that I was a Patient Experience Coach and RN, and that I wished our hospital had 100 nurses just like her.