Compassion

Amber Williams-Shearer Registered Nurse, Nor-Lea Emergency Room

Nominated by BranDee Savell | Chief Nursing Officer
I had a text from Mary Kay this morning letting me know how great Amber did with a behavioral health patient.
Paraphrasing: [Amber did an amazing job with a psychiatric patient last night. She was very caring, rubbing the back of his neck and shoulders and patting him on the chest until he fell asleep. The patient had received medication to help, but it didn't seem to faze him. The compassion that Amber showed him helped to calm him down and give him some peace.] This patient was seen for dementia and aggression, had been to our facility a few times, and for this visit he was in our facility for 2 days while our team looked for another facility that would accept him for proper treatment. These patients are very challenging because they are aggressive towards the family and staff. Medications are not always effective, and it may take several staff members to care for them. The staff must be on high alert with these types of patients because the patient can injure themselves or others. Often, they must be restrained or put in seclusion to prevent injuries. I appreciate Amber's kindness and compassion towards this gentleman who most likely will not remember her or what happened. Compassion is a universal language, a simple act of kindness and compassion can break through barriers and make all the difference for our patients who are confused, hallucinating, anxious, and afraid. Thank you, Amber, for being an exceptional nurse who exemplifies our value of compassion!

Compassion

Toni Busch Registered Nurse, Nor-Lea Cancer Center

Nominated by Alyssa Byrd | Radiology Manager
I want to recognize Toni for the work she does in assisting radiology. Radiology frequently needs our patient's ports accessed. Most of the time, the patients go to the Cancer Center first, however that is not always the case. Today we had a patient come in and we were going to use her port for her CT. Unfortunately, the patient had the wrong tubing started initially. Toni graciously walked over and corrected the line, and stated "Just call me and I will come back over to de-access the patient". No sooner than when she got back to her office, we had another patient that needed access. Toni returned without hesitation and accessed this patient. Again, as she left she stated "Just call me and I will come back to remove it." Toni came over after the first patient had been scanned and removed the patients access. She waited for us to scan the second patient and removed the access for that patient as well. Toni does not have to do all this. Regardless, she does it with a smile and a warm heart. She wants to make it easier and more convenient for the patient. The amazing thing about this is Toni feels like this is just part of her job and she doesn't feel like she is doing anything extraordinary. The patients sure appreciate her going out of her way to come to them and she also comes over and helps with any difficult IV's that| require ultrasound guidance. Toni has a compassionate heart and does her job with love for our patients. Radiology couldn't do this without her. Thank you for all you do!

Nominated by Laura Gryder | Navigation Coordinator
I would like to nominate Toni Busch for an exceptional care award. We had a new patient at Nor Lea Cancer Center who was needing to travel to Lubbock for a biopsy to confirm a malignancy. Without this biopsy no other care could be decided. Toni worked tirelessly to coordinate transport due to the patient being in a wheelchair and other social issues. She encountered numerous barriers, the final being that the patient was required to have a friend or healthcare worker accompany them to and from the procedure. The patient voiced that they had no support and was living in assisted living alone. Without this coordination, the biopsy would be cancelled. Toni quickly volunteered her time to travel with the patient to and from the procedure. Toni is a single mother and had to coordinate for someone to keep her son overnight so she would be available to leave in the early morning with the patient. Not once did she flinch. She knew it was the right thing to do, and she stepped in and agreed to do it. This is just one of the many examples of the effort Toni puts in day in and day out for our patients. I am proud to work alongside someone so caring and compassionate. Thank you, Toni for always doing what is right, even when no one is watching. You are the epitome of Nor-Lea values and your patients and the hospital is blessed to have you.

Accountability

Raul Muñoz Maintenance Technician, Nor-Lea Hospital District

Nominated by Laura Gryder | Navigation Coordinator
I would like to nominate Raul from the maintenance department for an exceptional care award. During one of the crazy windstorms, the tree adjacent to the employee entrance by the Cancer Center was almost completely uprooted and leaning on its side. Roy worked extremely hard to try and save this tree. He could have easily cut this tree down, or trimmed it down to a stump, however, he took his time to save it. What Roy didn't know is that the Cancer Center had an employee that had suffered numerous losses in her lifetime and although it was hard for her to find joy some days, she showed up every day serving our cancer center patients and being a vital part of our team. Every spring, she looked forward to looking out the hallway window and seeing this tree go from green leaves to full flower blooms and she would just sit and smile. She made sure to tell us all where the budding and blooming process was as it brightened her entire face. This spring, after over 25 years of service to Nor-Lea, she retired. Today, as I walked into work, I noticed the green leaves on the tree. I couldn't help but smile. I took a snapshot of the pic and sent it to her. Because of what Roy did in saving this tree, we will all have a constant reminder of Becky and her commitment to Cancer Center and most of all, we will remember the joy that tree brought to her. Thank you for taking the time to save this tree without even knowing the impact it would have. I know that this was not the usual maintenance work, but I am so thankful that you went out of your scope of work and did it with a smile on your face. You are truly one of a kind!

Accountability

Sara Marquez Vascular Med Technician, Nor-Lea Hospital District

Nominated by Ronald Hopkins, D.O. | Chief Medical Officer
On a recent Friday, I evaluated an elderly patient who presented with signs & symptoms suspicious for a (DVT) Deep Vein Thrombosis (blood clot). This was on Memorial Day weekend and the doppler studies were unavailable. I treated the patient as they were unable to travel to Lubbock for study. On Memorial Day, I came in to finish charts and review lab & imaging studies and to mv surprise the venous doppler was completed and the preliminary report was negative. Sara Marquez was the dedicated doppler technologist. I sent her a secure chat and expressed my gratitude for her exemplary service. We were able to stop the anticoagulant and the patient was relieved that they did not have a blood clot. Not only did that put the patient's and their doctor's mind at ease to know they did not have a blood clot, but the patient was able to stop the medication, that with a simple fall, could put them at risk for severe bleeding if not needed. Thank you again Sara for a job well done and for being so conscientious regarding the STAT order, after hours and on a holiday weekend.

Accountability

Victoria Rowell
Lab Coordinator, Nor-Lea Hospital District

Nominated by Amy Molinar | Director of Ancillary Services
Victoria has been working hard for the past 3 months to get the new chemistry analyzers ready for launch in May. She has had to run several samples, type policies and procedures while working with the vendor and providence to get everything interfaced in our systems. Her peers have all expressed how much they appreciate all her effort and extra hours she is putting in to get everything done and everyone trained. In all that Victoria is doing, she still takes the time to answer questions and troubleshoot any issues that may come up. She does not mind being called when she is off and will come out to help if needed. Victoria can be counted on to get things done. She has been instrumental in getting this project completed.

Respect

Tessa Torres, PA-C
Physician Assistant, Nor-Lea Cancer Center

Nominated by Laura Gryder | Navigation Coordinator & Erica Valdez | RN
The Nor-Lea clinic team (Laura & Erica) would like to nominate Tessa Torres, PA-C for an exceptional care award.  We had a very young patient who had been diagnosed with a tumor in the leg. The patient had been transferred to UNM in Albuquerque and finally to UMC in Lubbock.  Not only was the patient battling a diagnosis but had numerous social concerns.  This patient was extremely distrusting and at times could be flat out defiant, which made it difficult for health care providers to meet the patient’s needs.  Originally, the plan was to amputate the leg, however, UMC was able to perform extensive surgery and salvage the leg.  This meant that the patient was to be discharged home with a temporary wound vac and over 20 sutures on a 14inch incision.  We received a call from the patient’s Medicaid care coordinator that the patient was discharged home post-surgery and was not receiving the proper care from home health due to the social determinants he was facing. So, we met as a team to come up with a plan of action.

Tessa immediately began investigating the temporary wound vac and reviewed patient’s complete case and requested that we attempt to have the patient come in for her to perform a follow-up. The care coordinator was able to bring the patient in for an appointment and allowed Tessa to meet with them both to come up with a plan moving forward.  In the beginning, the patient was extremely standoffish and wouldn’t even make eye contact with any of the employees.  The patient was closed off and very defensive.  Tessa agreed to see the patient regularly to tend to the vac and provide wound care to the surgical site.  She even agreed to remove the sutures for the patient.  Slowly but surely with her gentle nature, she won the trust of this patient.  The patient’s vac and sutures have been removed, the patient has come in regularly for wound care and has even agreed to come in to see the Nor Lea wound care team.  Not only that, in the midst of Tessa’s busy schedule, she took the time to meet the patient at wound care to ensure that there was a seamless handoff.  Tessa regularly goes above and beyond for our patients, but this case was unique.  She went above and beyond her expertise to learn about this patient’s case and created a unique relationship with this patient.  So much so, that the last time the patient came into NLCC, he allowed the nurse to administer his dressing change, which would have previously been disastrous, being that he did not have any trust in the team.  I believe that Tessa’s efforts created a positive clinical outcome along with building a relationship of trust with a very distrusting individual who deserved the same care as any other patient.  It has been very sweet to experience.  If Tessa had not done this, the patient may not have received the proper care and could very well have ended up with an infection or worse.  It was such an amazing thing to witness.  Gosh, Tessa, you are just amazing and such an asset to the NLCC team and most of all, to our patients!