Award Nomination

I have the pleasure of working with Lisa for over 10 years. Lisa has been a nurse manager at Orchard Manor Nursing Home since 1993. Prior to that she was a staff nurse and prior to that started her career as a certified nursing assistant when she was 16 years old in 1979. One particular resident by the name of Dorothy believed that Lisa was actually an experiment by our medical director and was born on Orchard Manor.

I have a particularly interesting view of Lisa as she has been a mentor of mine from the start. I have been blessed to work with her in many capacities. I started out working under her as both a certified nursing assistant then a staff nurse. I was also a co-worker, a fellow nurse manager and then became her boss as a director of nursing.

She is one of the most devoted and loyal employees Orchard Manor has had. She feels completely responsible for the 50 lives she cares for. If she cannot sleep, she often comes to work hours early because she is thinking about what needs to be accomplished to assure quality of care for her residents. She has a particular expertise for dealing with elderly residents with dementia. She has the capability of putting herself in the shoes of the residents and of their loved ones.

She has touched the lives of hundreds to thousands of residents and their family members over the years. If I was to call all of the families she has assisted they would sign this nomination with out question. Families regard her as an "angel". A particular guardian of a resident named "Verna" called Lisa his angel nurse.

For years there has been an ongoing labeling of several nurses at Orchard Manor. Lisa is labeled as "the angel nurse" where one of her co-workers is labeled as the "golden nurse" and of course everyone is competing for the "prettiest nurse".

Lisa's name appears in the local newspaper quite frequently as when residents pass away. The families are compelled to specifically point out the gratitude they feel for Lisa in making the best of the lives of their loved ones right up to the end.

There are also the lives of the residents whom she has "saved" in many ways, physically, spiritually, and emotionally. I have seen this first handed as she has brought a resident back from the brink of death as she responds to emergency situations with swift confidence and expertise. She has prevented many residents from failing or deteriorating with her quick assessment skills and treatment. She will instinctively know who needs more one-on-one counseling and will take time out of her busy day to seek out the residents who need "talk time".

As her boss I was always fearful that when Lisa went on vacation those residents who relied on her for the special emotional support would decline in her absence. When we considered moving residents, we would contact the family and the resident and ask to make room changes and often they would refuse unless we could guarantee it was on "Lisa's side". If we had potentially involved families or perhaps anticipated some difficult coping issues with families, the social worker and I would try to place those residents on "Lisa's side".

Recently we admitted a hospice resident who was not coping well to nursing home placement. Lisa became obsessed with doing what ever it took to make him feel at "home" and cared for him to the fullest. We expected him to pass shortly after admission but instead, under the care of Lisa, he thrived and even improved. The resident began eating again, asked to come out of his room and requested a motorized scooter so he could go wherever he wanted freely.

I am especially indebted to Lisa on a personal level because she cared for my great grandmother and she opened my eyes and my heart to the feelings of my great grandmother and my family.

My 93 year old great grandmother had dementia and she was disruptive as she yelled loudly and often about bodily function and other complaints. Caregivers were very sympathetic but sometimes frustrated by her behaviors. To be perfectly honest, I was embarrassed and even regretted having my staff take care of her as I was the director of nursing and I felt it was becoming a conflict of interests in being involved in this situation. Taking care of a family member is very stressful especially when family is involved and there were some disagreements with the appropriate course of treatment and interventions with my grandmother and my great aunt.

One day I was completely exasperated, I was ready to step away from the situation as sending her out of the facility was no longer an option. I said to Lisa "I am so sorry that you have to deal with my great grandma and my family". She looked at me with great understanding and sensitivity in her eyes and said spontaneously, "I love your great grandma Gen, she is so sweet and she cannot help what she says and does." "And as for your great aunt, she is the baby of the family, she just wants the best for her mother and rightfully so as she has cared for her herself all these years." I was speechless; I went back to my office and cried. I so needed to hear those words she spoke to me. She has a natural ability to find empathy in certain situations where others cannot.

There are so many stories that we can reflect upon but hopefully this small snapshot gives a picture of the Lisa we know. There is no one dramatic over the top special occurrence or situation that makes Lisa "great". It is her daily "habits" that she consistently and without thought is able to convey to others, through her body language and her kind words. Compassion courses through her veins, it is second nature and she has a gift to intuitively know when others need her.

Self-less & self-sacrificing. All who know her would describe her as these two words. She is a single mother of 4 boys (1 set of twins); she has put herself through nursing school, survived a difficult divorce, lost a close sister in a car accident, and most recently and unexpectedly lost her mother before Mother's Day. Now her grandmother who for years she has taken care of just passed away. Emotionally she appears spent. All of the giving of unconditional love and empathy for others and the losses she has recently suffered is zapping her energy. As her friends and co-workers we rally behind her and tell her how much we truly appreciate her as we desperately need her power to "heal the residents".

She truly deserves this nomination as it would allow her to truly see how grateful we are for everything she has done, it would re-energize her so she can continue to provide the compassionate care that all of the residents and families need. It would recognize her for all of the lives she touches daily & has touched in the past. This nomination will inspire and motivate other nurses to prove that it is truly genuine empathy displayed by nurses/caregivers that provides the healing environment of the body and soul.

Thank you Lisa, you have made me the nurse I am and the nurse I strive to be.

Gratefully,

Angela K. Pierce, RN, BSN, Former DON

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