May 2019
Anne
Kelley
,
RN
Medical Homeport
Naval Health Clinic New England
Newport
,
RI
United States

 

 

 

As a nurse, compassion and empathy are two qualities that are vital. I witnessed Anne Kelley express both of these in a situation with a patient who had terminal cancer. She spent the better half of a week trying to find out if Tricare would cover the cost of wigs and diapers for this patient, constantly on the phone with the patient and her husband, Tricare, and local stores. You could tell that her heart went out for her and her family and wanted to do everything that you could to help ease the burden.
Later on, in the week, the patient's husband stopped by to thank Anne for all of her hard work. He started to cry when Anne asked how he was doing. She talked with him in private about how he was feeling and how overwhelmed he was. She sat with him. She listened and she cried with him. She gave him a reprieve from the everyday stress that he felt, and anyone could see that he appreciated it from the bottom of his heart.
Anne also took a personal investment in calling her patients during the "Transition to Network" evolution. Almost every night, you would find her staying after hours trying to reach patients after they got home from work, spending the time needed talking to the patients and giving them all of the help and care that they needed. She would sometimes spend the better part of an hour trying to ease their nerves. She personally helped set up PCM's and appointments for patients and even when patients who were not assigned to her would call her phone, she never told them she could not help; she treated each patient as if they were her own family member. To me, Anne went above what was expected of her and truly embodied what a DAISY Nurse emulates.