On May 7, two WellStar nurses will be honored at
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s annual Celebrating Nurses: Nursing Excellence awards event. Nancy Fischer, RN, CCRN, WellStar Kennestone Hospital, Step Down Open Heart/Vascular Thoracic Unit; and Sheny Hill, RN, CMSRN, WellStar Cobb Hospital, Medical Surgical Unit, were chosen from approximately 350 nominees as two of the top 10 nurses in Georgia. WellStar was the only health system with more than one honoree.
The nurses have a common bond – compassion – as you’ll discover through their nomination stories.
A nurse for 36 years, Nancy Fischer was nominated by her nurse manager, Paola Buitrago, MSN, RN, CNML, who said in her nomination, “Nancy impacts patients’ lives on a daily basis; she goes above and beyond with every patient encounter. I round on patients daily and hear how Nancy’s patients are always left with a positive and everlasting impression.”
Buitrago recounts the story of a mentally disabled patient who was so afraid to have open heart surgery he was refusing treatment. Fischer educated him, putting him at ease. He agreed to have the surgery, and Fischer was with him every step of the way, even coming in on her day off to bring him new clothes and toiletries.
“He called me to say Nancy had changed his life,” said Buitrago, “and how thankful he was for a nurse like her.”
Another patient, on the floor for more than a month, was hospitalized during Thanksgiving. Fischer brought this patient her favorite food to ensure she had a holiday as close to normal as possible.
“Nancy takes care of patients by loving them,” said Buitrago. “She inspires me to be a better nurse every day.”
“I want to make a difference in people’s lives, especially when they’re in difficult situations,” said Fischer. “I want people to love nurses – there’s no greater job than being at the bedside.”
Sheny Hill, a nurse for 10 years and WellStar 2012 Hall of Fame honoree, shows a similar brand of selflessness and passion for her profession. Her nominator, Kippie Lipham, medical interpreter, recounts an amazing gift the nurse gave to a patient.
Admitted for abdominal pain, a 27-year-old Guatemalan man on Hill’s unit was diagnosed with advanced gallbladder cancer after two weeks. He was then readmitted to the oncology floor, where he spent more than two months.
Born in Guatemala herself, Hill continued visiting the patient. She became close to him, and his wife, two-year-old daughter, two brothers and father, who traveled from Guatemala to see his son. They invited her to join them when the physician requested a family conference to explain the patient needed end-of-life care – there was nothing more that could be done.
When the young man, connected to a multitude of tubes, looked at his brother and said, “I want to go home,” Hill knew there was something more
she could do. His last wish was to be with his mother, who he had not seen in seven years. Without hesitation, Hill volunteered to escort him home and help the family plan for his complicated, in-flight and on-arrival medical needs. Hill’s compassionate gift to the patient and his family was immeasurable. But, she explains, “I needed him as much as he needed me. He reminded me why we do what we do every day.”
“I can think of no other person who deserves this award more than Sheny,” said Lipham. “She demonstrates the same type of compassion for all her patients every day and we are truly lucky to have her at WellStar Cobb.”
