August 2016
Bridget
Garcia
,
RN
Critical Care Unit
Elkhart General Hospital
Elkhart
,
IN
United States

 

 

 

Bridget Garcia is a caring, compassionate, and dedicated nurse and we are so blessed to have her on our team. Day in and day out, she possesses leadership qualities not only for the staff but also with her patients. She brings laughter to those who are in need of some comic relief and clarity for those who need someone to listen. This is the character and style that Bridget brings to the bedside every day.
We had a patient who was in the hospital for over a month. He was basically bed-ridden and needed a lot of assistance for tasks, even just washing his face. This patient ended up having a tracheostomy placed with the projected plan of care to go to an LTAC. After 3 weeks of being in bed, Bridget took it upon herself to take this man to another unit to get a shower.
Although this may seem very basic and not award worthy, I assure you it is. It took 3 people to get this patient into a wheelchair. Bridget and our Unit Director took the patient to the shower which is not on our floor and helped bathe him head to toe. All of his bathing supplies, linens, etc. had to be carted off the unit with him. This was no easy task. This was truly a production of sorts.
This basic yet complicated task really instilled a sense of "getting back to the basics of nursing." The patient was so extremely appreciative of this one action.