We recently had a patient who underwent a total hip replacement. This patient had untreated psychiatric issues because he refused to take the medication he needed. Because of these untreated issues, the patient was extremely difficult. He argued with physical therapy, the nursing staff, and the physician. Nothing was ever good enough for him; the food, the nursing care, the environment, or the television channels. Basically, he was impossible to please. His call light was used often and he was usually demeaning. To be truthful, most of us groaned at the thought of going into his room again.
Shawna willingly took this patient every shift she worked. She made it her mission to make him happy and comfortable. While this may be the job of every nurse, to do it with this patient took more than a normal amount of time and patience. She did an amazing job with him and always kept a smile on her face.
On the patient's third post-op day, Shawna was not scheduled. However, she still felt it was her mission to make this patient smile (not an easy task-believe me!). She drove to the hospital from Linton to bring the patient a bright and cheery bouquet of flowers. I rounded on the patient about an hour after Shawna took the flowers in. I asked him where they came from even though I already knew. When the patient answered it was the first and only time I saw him smile during his entire stay! He was here for ten days and had only one visitor that I know of. He will likely never admit it, but those flowers really made him feel like someone cared.
In addition to this patient's flowers, Shawna also brought in an identical bouquet for another patient and his wife. This family had just received devastating news that the patient has cancer that is beyond treatment. His time left on earth is probably less than two weeks. Shawna had taken care of him and his family the day they received the news and she wanted them to have a reminder that she was thinking of them.
Shawna is a shining example of everything HCA stands for. She makes me proud to be her manager every day.