July 2019
Caroline
Schik
,
BSN, RN, SCRN
Neurology Med Surg
Sanford Medical Center - Fargo
Fargo
,
ND
United States

 

 

 

Caroline is truly an exceptional Nurse. I've had the privilege of working with her for a couple of years now on 6AB. I have always thought that she is a fantastic nurse, but recently we have worked together on a couple of complex discharges and she goes above and beyond for her patients.
One particular situation recently that I remember was with a patient who had an extended stay on 6AB. He had a lot of medical and social issues, which meant for me, it was very hard to find an accepting nursing home. The day before discharge, I had an hour-long talk about how the discharge would happen and the patient agreed. The next day, he didn't remember our conversation and was agitated with me about the plan. Thankfully, Caroline was his nurse that day. She swooped right in and deescalated the patient and backed me up on the discharge plan. She assured him that the discharge to the nursing home was in his best interest, and she completely turned the situation around.
This week, I had another patient with complex needs, so I had a hard time finding nursing home placement. The MD had written discharge orders on Wednesday, and I did not have placement. On Thursday, Caroline was the discharge nurse and checked in with me multiple times asking if there was anything she could do to help move things along, and she updated the bedside nurse for me on the plan. On Friday, Caroline was the bedside nurse for this patient, so she knew that I was hoping to discharge the patient Friday afternoon. Caroline made sure to coordinate with dialysis to make sure the patient got all of her necessary medications early, so we didn't have any discharge delays.
Friday morning, when I talked to the dialysis nurse, she told me that the patient was upset because overnight had told her she wouldn't discharge. I was definitely expecting the patient to be upset with me. But of course, Caroline swopped in again and assured her that everything was on track, and by the time I got to see the patient, she was ready to discharge and in a great mood.
Caroline always provides remarkable care to all of her patients. She is always so calm and collected, and you can physically see how patients relax when she walks into the room. She is so caring and compassionate. She always sees the big picture and helps lay the foundation for discharge. I would not be able to do my job without nurses like her.