Karen Tierno
August 2021
Karen
Tierno
,
RN
Phillips House 22 GYN/Surgery
Massachusetts General Hospital
Boston
,
MA
United States
Karen is one of the kindest, most compassionate people I have ever met.
It has been my pleasure to work with Karen Tierno for the last eight years, first as a PCA and then as a nurse. I could not think of anyone more deserving of this award. Karen is one of the most senior nurses on the floor she has worked on Philips 22 for 21 years and has also worked on Baker 8 (med/surg), RACU, and nutrition support. She also teaches at the institute and has precepted countless nursing students. She is the first person that I go to if I need help or have any questions.
Karen frequently receives challenging patient assignments because of how competent and hardworking she is. I remember one Friday night we worked together, and she was taking care of a patient who was an inmate. He had become so agitated that he kicked the bed smashing and breaking it. She calmly took control of the situation calling security and the RC and trying to deescalate the patient in a calm, kind manner while still being assertive. She advocated having him ordered something to help calm him down. When the doctor ordered IM Zyprexa, she administered it to him which helped him to calm down.
The following Friday she had a patient code unexpectedly. The patient had gotten into a serious car accident and had a full body brace on for a broken neck. When they turned him to reposition him he coded. Without a second thought, she immediately started doing chest compressions and called a code. The patient survived and Karen saved his life.
Even after these two very tough experiences on back-to-back Fridays Karen remained so positive and kind. Always checking in to make sure everyone else was ok. If I ever ask her for help no matter what she is doing she will stop and help me or comfort me if I had a bad day. I remember one shift where my patient coded at the end of the shift. I was very distraught. She was the first one there to make sure I was ok and comfort me when I started crying.
She always goes the extra mile for her patients to make sure they have everything they need. She even stays late a lot of shifts to make sure that her patients are well taken care of and that her colleagues are doing ok. Karen is one of the kindest, most compassionate people I have ever met. Many of the newer nurses really enjoy working with her because she is so patient and never makes you feel bad about asking questions. All the patients love her because of her patience kindness and extensive oncology knowledge.
Karen frequently receives challenging patient assignments because of how competent and hardworking she is. I remember one Friday night we worked together, and she was taking care of a patient who was an inmate. He had become so agitated that he kicked the bed smashing and breaking it. She calmly took control of the situation calling security and the RC and trying to deescalate the patient in a calm, kind manner while still being assertive. She advocated having him ordered something to help calm him down. When the doctor ordered IM Zyprexa, she administered it to him which helped him to calm down.
The following Friday she had a patient code unexpectedly. The patient had gotten into a serious car accident and had a full body brace on for a broken neck. When they turned him to reposition him he coded. Without a second thought, she immediately started doing chest compressions and called a code. The patient survived and Karen saved his life.
Even after these two very tough experiences on back-to-back Fridays Karen remained so positive and kind. Always checking in to make sure everyone else was ok. If I ever ask her for help no matter what she is doing she will stop and help me or comfort me if I had a bad day. I remember one shift where my patient coded at the end of the shift. I was very distraught. She was the first one there to make sure I was ok and comfort me when I started crying.
She always goes the extra mile for her patients to make sure they have everything they need. She even stays late a lot of shifts to make sure that her patients are well taken care of and that her colleagues are doing ok. Karen is one of the kindest, most compassionate people I have ever met. Many of the newer nurses really enjoy working with her because she is so patient and never makes you feel bad about asking questions. All the patients love her because of her patience kindness and extensive oncology knowledge.