May 2024
Bridget
Donoghue
,
RN
Outpatient
Edward P. Boland Veterans Medical Center
Leeds
,
MA
United States
She is able to engage even the most difficult patients and form relationships that help very challenging patients remain connected to care.
Bridget is an outstanding example of the VA ICARE values. She is always focused on providing excellent care to all veterans by direct service to veterans and by supporting other team members. Bridget has exceptional clinical skills. She is able to quickly and effectively assess and triage walk-in situations or warm hand offs from the primary care teams and ensures that each patient receives the level of care needed. She is able to engage even the most difficult patients and form relationships that help very challenging patients remain connected to care.
One particular veteran is a good example of this. M is a veteran with severe mental illness who is very impaired, very irritable with very limited social skills and very limited psychosocial supports. He began working with Bridget in 2014 monthly to receive injections to address his mental health needs. She monitored not only his mental status, but also his psychosocial situation. He was too irritable and prickly to tolerate working with a therapist or social worker, so Bridget became his primary mental health contact. She helped him think through decisions he was making, spoke to family members and important friends to enlist their support when he needed assistance getting to appointments, and they reached out to her when they had concerns about him. This veteran trusts her and lets her know when he is having a hard time. Recently, he was experiencing a very stressful situation and let her know the stress was starting to increase his paranoia, and he asked her for help getting into the hospital. She was a strong advocate. Even though she wasn't able to get him into the VA (it was a Friday), she was able to get him to go to the local ER where he was evaluated and held over the weekend. While it wasn't ideal, it was a safe enough environment that he was able to stabilize and be discharged back to home.
During this prolonged period of severe shortage of psychiatrists or psychiatric APRNs in Worcester, Bridget has been extremely helpful. She stays current with what resources are available and facilitates referrals. Another way she has been exceptional is in recruiting two other excellent psychiatric nurses and helping them get integrated into our team.
One particular veteran is a good example of this. M is a veteran with severe mental illness who is very impaired, very irritable with very limited social skills and very limited psychosocial supports. He began working with Bridget in 2014 monthly to receive injections to address his mental health needs. She monitored not only his mental status, but also his psychosocial situation. He was too irritable and prickly to tolerate working with a therapist or social worker, so Bridget became his primary mental health contact. She helped him think through decisions he was making, spoke to family members and important friends to enlist their support when he needed assistance getting to appointments, and they reached out to her when they had concerns about him. This veteran trusts her and lets her know when he is having a hard time. Recently, he was experiencing a very stressful situation and let her know the stress was starting to increase his paranoia, and he asked her for help getting into the hospital. She was a strong advocate. Even though she wasn't able to get him into the VA (it was a Friday), she was able to get him to go to the local ER where he was evaluated and held over the weekend. While it wasn't ideal, it was a safe enough environment that he was able to stabilize and be discharged back to home.
During this prolonged period of severe shortage of psychiatrists or psychiatric APRNs in Worcester, Bridget has been extremely helpful. She stays current with what resources are available and facilitates referrals. Another way she has been exceptional is in recruiting two other excellent psychiatric nurses and helping them get integrated into our team.