September 2024 VUH Healthcare Heroes
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Nurse of the Quarter: Lauren Achord, RN – Emergency Department - From Lauren’s nomination: On 5/31, Lauren received a patient who received the devastating news that they had mere hours to live. The patient was alone except for his elderly father who was hard of hearing. Lauren was so patient in explaining everything to his father. Lauren also Facetimed all his family, including his children who live far away, for him so they could say their goodbyes. She sat in with the patient while he was passing away, ensuring his pain was controlled and he knew he wasn't alone. The patient loved hard rock music and Lauren played him music while he was passing, holding his hand while he passed away. Lauren also so compassionately explained to the father that his son had passed away with such patience. The emergency department loves pins that they can wear on their lanyards and badge holders. She on her own, bought some duck pins (kind of the ED mascot) and gave them out to people letting them know how awesome they are. You can tell people just light up when they get one from her! Lauren is always credo, and this is one of many instances where Lauren embodies the Vanderbilt credo model.
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Ancillary Staff Member of the Quarter: Jasmine Finch, CP – 8 North - From Jasmine’s nomination: Jasmine is incredible when it comes to patient care and work ethic. She carries herself with a quiet confidence that radiates throughout the entire unit, and I can't tell you how many sighs of relief and exclamations of excitement I've heard from patients and families when she walks into a room and introduces herself as their care partner for the night. A few weeks ago, I had a patient that was very sick, extremely uncomfortable, and in high amounts of pain. This patient was consistently calling every 15-30 minutes to be cleaned up, repositioned, or medicated. By midnight of that shift, I was already mentally, physically, and emotionally drained. I felt so defeated that I couldn't get this patient comfortable enough to sleep through the night, and I could only imagine that Jasmine felt the same way. All night long we went back and forth into the patient's room, and never once did Jasmine show any signs of bitterness or irritation regarding the constant calls. Over and over, she answered each one with so much compassion, empathy, and patience. I was so impressed with her ability to maintain her composure all night (and with 7 other patients), and I'm not sure I would have made it through the night without a breakdown if she had not have been there. Jasmine models the Vanderbilt Credo every single day. She takes full responsibility for her patients and is an amazing communicator, offering suggestions and passing along information whenever it's needed to the nurse or other staff. On one occasion in particular, Jasmine was the first to identify a stat on one patient and then 20-30 minutes later, identified another patient who we ended up having to call a code stroke on. She is always on top of her game, constantly goes above and beyond for patients/families, and exemplifies professional behavior and communication skills at all times. Jasmine is an incredible woman who truly deserves to be recognized for her amazing leadership skills, her advanced patient advocacy abilities, and her faithful devotion to her patients, peers, and family members. She does so much to positively impact our unit, and we are a better team because of her.
VUH Healthcare Hero Past Recipients
 | Nursing Across Vanderbilt University Medical Center |
