Karen Martinez
February 2025
Karen
Martinez
,
LPN
4 East
The MetroHealth System
Cleveland
,
OH
United States
Not only has she shown incredible competence in the role and her ability to care for her patients medically, but she has also shown that she will show up for her patients and fiercely advocate for them.
Karen has only been an LPN for about a year, but has already demonstrated that she is an exceptional nurse. Not only has she shown incredible competence in the role and her ability to care for her patients medically, but she has also shown that she will show up for her patients and fiercely advocate for them.
Recently, Karen had a patient who had been on the floor for quite some time and was transitioning to hospice care. When speaking to the patient, she realized that he did not quite understand what was happening because his first language was not English. She took the time to explain the process of what was happening to him in his native language in order to ensure that he completely understood his plan for care and his next steps. But she didn't stop there.
Knowing that he was homeless and had no family in the United States, she went home and had her family put together some clothes that he could take with him upon discharge. She then took it upon herself to make the patient a Facebook page, with his permission, in an effort to connect the patient with his family abroad that he had lost touch with due to losing his contact book with their phone numbers in it. She spent time finding family members, sending them messages in an attempt to connect them with the patient and offer him some support while undergoing such a huge, scary change in his life.
It is often that Karen is advocating for our floor's Spanish-speaking population by translating for other nurses with little recognition. But to go so far above and beyond to make a patient's transition to end of life a little easier and connect him with loved ones along the way is so indicative of how Karen shows up for her patients every day.
I've been so amazed to see firsthand how she cares for her patients, dealing with issues outside the walls of MetroHealth.
To know that she has made such a difference in the lives of her patients within her first year makes me so hopeful for all the other patients who will be lucky enough to have her throughout the rest of her career.
Recently, Karen had a patient who had been on the floor for quite some time and was transitioning to hospice care. When speaking to the patient, she realized that he did not quite understand what was happening because his first language was not English. She took the time to explain the process of what was happening to him in his native language in order to ensure that he completely understood his plan for care and his next steps. But she didn't stop there.
Knowing that he was homeless and had no family in the United States, she went home and had her family put together some clothes that he could take with him upon discharge. She then took it upon herself to make the patient a Facebook page, with his permission, in an effort to connect the patient with his family abroad that he had lost touch with due to losing his contact book with their phone numbers in it. She spent time finding family members, sending them messages in an attempt to connect them with the patient and offer him some support while undergoing such a huge, scary change in his life.
It is often that Karen is advocating for our floor's Spanish-speaking population by translating for other nurses with little recognition. But to go so far above and beyond to make a patient's transition to end of life a little easier and connect him with loved ones along the way is so indicative of how Karen shows up for her patients every day.
I've been so amazed to see firsthand how she cares for her patients, dealing with issues outside the walls of MetroHealth.
To know that she has made such a difference in the lives of her patients within her first year makes me so hopeful for all the other patients who will be lucky enough to have her throughout the rest of her career.