... Nora Edwards has been a bright spot since the minute she walked onto our unit. She goes above and beyond every day, making the patients her main priority. She is a team player and has stepped up to take on various roles on our unit. On our unit we primarily take care of Labor patients, but also have specialized roles. Nora has taken on each of these roles: she is an OR circulator, a triage nurse, and an antepartum nurse. She is ready and willing to take on any patient assignment when she walks into work. As a charge nurse, I really appreciate Nora's positive attitude and flexibility to be in any role and take care of a variety of patients.

Welcoming babies into the world is a wonderful job, but sometimes it comes with sorrow and grief. Some patients do not get to take home their babies and we work with them through the labor and delivery of a child that may never take a breath. As a core antepartum nurse, Nora works with these patients often. She holds their hands, wipes their tears and ensures that they are physically and emotionally stable. On her last shift Nora stepped up and took a particularly heartbreaking assignment. Her patient was in labor at 21 weeks, nearly having half her pregnancy left. She was pregnant with twins and she knew that both her babies would not survive outside of her womb.

Nora was offered three times throughout the shift to go home on standby due to our census change throughout the night. She passed on the opportunity every time feeling as though she couldn't leave her patient. Nora was with her patient through it all. She was there when the patient delivered both of her babies, born alive, and there when they both passed quietly away. She wrapped them up, monitored them and gave the parents time to grieve. A few hours later when the placentas would not spontaneously deliver, the patient had to go to the operating room for the removal. Nora was with her patient during that as well. She then followed her to our PACU and settled her back in her room in antepartum in the morning. She passed off the patient in the morning when her shift came to an end, but Nora didn't go home then. She stayed over her shift to ensure that the paperwork was started and all her loose ends were tied.

Nora is the type of nurse that exemplifies our patient first agenda. She thought not of herself that night, but of her patient. She could have left and gone home, giving this patient to another nurse, but she would not do that. She had bonded with the patient and felt it was in the patient's best interest for it to be Nora here through the night.

Aside from being a wonderful beside nurse and taking on numerous roles on the unit, Nora contributes to Salem Health in other ways as well. She is a preceptor and leader on the unit. She is one of our Magnet Champions and has done a great job getting our unit prepped and ready for the survey with fun and educational activities.