August 2023 VUH Healthcare Heroes
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Nurse Leader of the Quarter: Jennifer Travis, Nurse Manager – 7N, Monitor Techs, V-Sitters - From Jennifer’s nomination: One of the many things Jennifer has done to increase staff morale is make use of a "pebble in my shoe" list and stoplight tool. After our culture survey results came out, Jennifer held a few staff meetings and asked staff how we can help them feel better informed. These tools came out of that meeting. In our breakroom, she has set up a "pebble in my shoe" list for staff to write down things that would help make their shifts easier or better in some way. She then takes that data and puts it in a stoplight format showing where she is at with that specific idea. Green means it has been completed or a work order, etc has been placed to complete that task. yellow means she is working on figuring out how to solve that issue. Red means we can't complete this and here's why. Staff have really enjoyed using this. It makes their ideas and concerns feel heard and they feel more involved in the decision making on our unit. She updates the board in the breakroom monthly and reports out on it in our unit's weekly email. Not too long ago, we had to present a tough topic about models of care to our unit. She knew it was going to be a difficult conversation and wanted to do whatever she could to make staff comfortable. She helped coordinate ordering cookies for our staff meeting for those who came in person. She was clear on what the meeting agenda was and the expectations were of staff. She made sure that before she went into this specific topic that everyone took a deep breath, everyone listened, and gave everyone time to take it in before asking questions. She gave everyone a chance to talk through their concerns. She validated their feelings, as she knew that this was a lot of information and change to take in. She took notes and was actively listening to their concerns. She assured staff that she would elevate their questions to her leadership. And made sure to let staff know that her door is always open and she is always willing to listen to any concerns they have.
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Nurse of the Quarter: Alex Biro, RN – 6MCE - From Alex’s nomination: Alex had a complex patient with a myriad of symptoms. Multiple teams were consulting and were not finding the root of the problem. The patient had returned from a procedure and began to deteriorate. Signs were subtle at first, but knowing the patient and her baseline well, Alex knew this was unusual. She did everything she could at the bedside to troubleshoot and try to make the patient comfortable. When this did not work, she began to reach out to the team. The team even came to bedside, but due to the subtleness of her symptoms and the fact that there were several that didn't seem specifically related to a post procedure complication, the team decided to continue to monitor the patient. Alex advocated strongly for several hours knowing this patient was not well and worried for her to worsen. Eventually, she called a rapid and when the rapid team arrived, it turned into a stat. Alex had 3 other patients during these few hours, but spent most of her time in this room with this patient assessing, watching for change, and advocating that she was deteriorating, even if subtly. Alex has joined all of our CLABSI or CAUTI reviews and always offers insight and feedback on how we can improve practice for better outcomes. She recently had a kidney transplant patient, whose family absolutely fell in love with her. On a very busy day, she spent extra time in the room making sure the patient and spouse were comfortable, even sitting down to listen to them tell their transplant story. This is something so personal for our patients and many times they are so grateful they just want to share their journey to transplant. When I rounded on them, they told me she was "the cream of the crop, superb and like a member of their family now". What a testament to how she makes healthcare personalized for her patients.
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Ancillary Staff Member of the Quarter: Carla Jo Meade, MR - CVICU - From Carla Jo’s nomination: A family was upset about visitation limitations following their loved one's complicated surgery, and Miss Carla helped mediate the situation so that all parties were satisfied and could focus on caring for the patient. The family was upset prior to her visiting because they did not understand the regulation. After hearing Miss Carla explain in a friendly and clear way, the family calmed down and complied. Miss Carla then ushered the visitors 2 at a time to the bedside, helping them set time limits so that the whole family could visit, and then helped explain and enforce the reasoning for visiting limitations to the family. The whole atmosphere became calmer after she stepped in to help out, and allowed nurses and providers to focus on providing the best care for the patient. The family eventually even thanked her and the providers. Miss Carla makes sure that she pushes the snack cart around every night she works. She politely announces herself and waits patiently for people to finish up their current tasks so that everyone can enjoy the morale boost. She always has a smile and it's a highlight of all the night shifts that she works!
VUH Healthcare Hero Past Recipients
 | Nursing Across Vanderbilt University Medical Center |
