Beth has continuously demonstrated excellence in the care she provides across situations. One thing that stands out to me is her continued commitment to Veteran-centric care and service while never sacrificing her collaboration with colleagues across interdisciplinary teams. I'm hoping to illustrate some of the ways that Beth goes above and beyond to support and serve the Veterans we care for.

There are people who accomplish tasks, and then there are people who get a job done with all their heart, Beth is the latter. One example that demonstrates her advocacy for veterans is when we were evacuated for Hurricane Milton last year. A veteran with a loaned CPAP from respiratory needed a new loaner CPAP after returning from evacuation.

While I worked with other staff to get in contact with respiratory, Beth and a colleague ensured there was no delay and physically went to respiratory and returned with one for the veteran to use. This is something that many were in the process of doing and it was becoming a lengthy and unclear process. Leave it to Beth to advocate for our veterans and deliver excellent care acquiring a CPAP for the veteran. They were so grateful!

Most recently, her integrity to excellent care was demonstrated in a way that I believe is worth recognizing widely. A Veteran was admitted to the hospital and Beth checked in with the veteran. In meeting with the patient, she recognized the opportunity for our teams to target a treatment need. The veteran had been hospitalized for an infection that was a complication of unmanaged diabetes.

Over the course of the interaction, Beth learned that the Veteran was not managing her diabetes due to a fear of injecting herself with insulin. Beth further recognized that the Veteran's fear of needles had very significant consequences. Beth eagerly sought to identify if this could be a target for exposure therapy. She noticed that, similarly to how we support Veterans in facing and overcoming trauma-related triggers, this veteran might be able to benefit from graduated exposures to allow the veteran to feel comfortable working towards checking her blood sugar and administering her insulin.

Beth's awareness alerted our team to a critical treatment opportunity for this Veteran and has allowed us to incorporate this into our treatment plan. She showed respect for this Veteran along the way, in supporting her through the progression and advocating for her needs. I am not sure we would have ever learned about this target without Beth's observation and commitment to care. I genuinely believe that this is a demonstration of the highest patient-centered care, going above and beyond, working as an interdisciplinary team, and a true embodiment of ICARE values. Her efforts may have a valuable, lasting impact on this Veteran's life moving forward.