...Thyra went above and beyond the call of duty with an incredibly difficult patient recently. She demonstrated compassion on his behalf, was his advocate, and built a level of trust with him that allowed us to successfully care for this individual. Thyra performed her responsibilities as a nurse with the highest level of professionalism and deserves recognition for this. I remain truly impressed with her skills.

...Let me give you some background on the situation. Thyra cared for R, a patient on 5th floor, over an entire weekend. R was a very demanding and manipulating patient who was often heard in his room yelling at staff. R was the kind of patient that when you came for the day and saw that you were assigned to him, you wish that you would have requested off that morning instead. I was working charge that Friday morning that Thyra was assigned to him and I heard her talking to R that morning telling him that they were going to have a good day together. I felt that her attitude alone that day was enough for a medal. The majority of nurses had already decided to spend as little time in his room prior to even caring for him based on his unruly behavior. Over the weekend, as charge, I got to witness one of the greatest patient transformations that I have ever seen as a nurse, all due to the time, dedication, and persistence that Thyra gave R.

On Friday, R spent the majority of his time in bed with a blanket over his head. He had started to have what looked like a post op infection. He was refusing his antibiotics because he claimed we were doing nothing for him anyways and he might as well die. R had a very strong addiction to pain medications and he would constantly barter and manipulate his care for more pain meds. He told the doctors that the only way he would take his antibiotics is if they would give him more pain meds. The doctors walked out of his room in pure frustration while R screamed at them from his room.

Over the course of the weekend Thyra spent countless hours with R, getting down to the core of his needs. She sat at his bedside talking with him, a man that I myself, would have been scared to sit next to. She educated him on the importance of his antibiotics until she was blue in the face. She found out that he had a passion for art and was able to obtain his art supplies from the NH via the courier. Finally she worked out a pain plan that R was comfortable with. This sounds like a small task but let me assure you most nurses would have given up on this on day 1. Thyra was persistent in her needs for R but was diligent enough to respect the doctors. She made multiple follow up phone calls to the providers continually trying to work out a plan that pleased all who were involved in R's care. After 2 hard 12 hour shifts, Thyra finally worked out a plan that all were comfortable with, but most importantly R agreed to.

Sunday morning R was sitting up in his room working on art, receiving antibiotics, was pleasant when the doctors came in and for the first time thanked the doctors as they walked out. I think the doctors almost fell over! I heard R that day thanking Thyra for all that she had done for him. He told her that he trusted her. To get this recognition from a patient like this was extraordinary.

...I have seen a lot of excellent care given over the years but the care that Thyra provided to R was the kind of care that made me take a step back and think Wow that is amazing care that is exactly why I became a nurse. The impact that Thyra had on R's care was truly inspirational.