June 2010
Jean
Grenaldo
,
RN, BSN
Care Coordination
UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh
,
PA
United States

 

 

 

Jean exemplifies a nurse who goes above and beyond everyday. She steps out of her role as 8B’s Care Coordinator to lend a hand to the nurses on 8B all the time, not just when they are overwhelmed or short staffed. She has fed and held babies when there are no parents at the bedside. Jean has also helped change patients dressings when the nurses need a hand. She has also pitched in to help the nurses give baths and bed changes with the medically complicate patients. Jean has also worked overtime for 8B when we are short staffed and is always willing to step out of her office to help the nurses with the day to day nursing care. Jean has been willing to cover a nurse’s patients if they have to go off the floor with a patient for procedures, including covering the charge phone if the charge nurse has meetings off the floor. Jean takes an active role in family-centered rounds. She updates herself on the patients’ plan of care by reading their daily progress notes so she can anticipate their discharge needs. Then she will have their follow-up care and discharge meds taken care of prior to the nurse or doctor asking her to do so. She has stayed late many days to make sure that nebulizers are ordered for late discharges or so an ambulance is set up to transfer a patient either home or to another facility. She frequently has discharge medications filled before the child is discharged, especially if the child lives far away or if the medications filled before the child is discharged, especially if the child lives far away or if the medication is difficult to get from an outside pharmacy. Jean will introduce herself to parents and families early in their admission to provide them support throughout their stay and will provide teaching and supplies upon discharge. Jean works extremely well with all of her colleagues and coordinates the multiple disciplines and services that are involved with each patient’s plan of care while during their hospital stay and when they are discharged. Jean is a wonderful resource person with many years of experience not only as a care coordinator, but as a bedside nurse here at CHP. She has become one of the go-to people for all the doctors, med students, PT/OT, child life, nutrition/feeding specialists, social work and nurses. We highly respect her knowledge and ability to do her job efficiently everyday always with a smile on her face and helping hand. Jean’s office is always open and she welcomes any questions about our patients and their care. It doesn’t hurt that she always has a full candy dish for us and an ear to listen when we are having problems and just need to vent. For all these reasons, Jean is an extraordinary nurse.