BeStaRRs – July, August, September – 2019

ED Staff, ED Medical Staff, Dr. Darnell, Cardiopulmonary, Leslie Smith HSM, ICU Staff

Recognized for: TEAMWORK

During the Memorial Day holiday, the ER found themselves with multiple trauma victims due to a motorcycle accident, as well as a trauma arrest, and many other medical patients. The ED Department quickly came together and did an amazing job. The ED day shift staff stayed late, (Jaime Sampere, Estrella Padilla, and Ely Abrums), ICU nurse (Martha Jaramillo, and tele tech (Susan Duran) pitched in. ED night shift and swing staff (Kellie Prindle, Nick Ledonard, Mike Kircher, Tenaha Strain, and Emily Brown), all worked tirelessly. Cecilia, day RT, stayed late and Andrew one of our new RTs took on the challenge and together they did a great job. Dr. Bjorkman stayed late to assist. Dr. Moran, Christa Castro and Martin Neubert, also did an awesome job. House shift manager Leslie Smith and Dr. Darnell rolled up her sleeves and jumped in to help as well, while US Urbana Wilson took care of transfer paperwork, getting the patients out to higher level of care.

A big thank you to all these departments for their excellence in TEAMWORK!

Samantha Tafoya RN – Med Surg Unit

Recognized for Quality and Safety
Nominated by: Kathy Alcon, PT

While on her way to mobilize a surgical patient, Kathy states she stopped first to check in with his nurse Samantha, who reported the patient had taken a lot of pain meds after having a bad night. She suggested, for safety, that she help Kathy get him out of bed. As soon as he stood up he had a negative reaction, they quickly returned him to bed, and Samantha took control of the situation. She notified the MD, who ordered a lung scan revealing multiple PE’s. Per Kathy, “Sam saved this patients life all while as remaining calm, cool and collected. Her knowledge and professionalism were impressive.”

HCMC is proud to have Samantha be a part of our team! Thank you for taking good care of our patients!

Tristan Kwiecinski

Behavior Standard: Safety and Quality

Tristan was calm and amazing during the delivery of four babies during a 12 hour shift. She exceeds her job expectation everyday however on this day she really showed her skill and knowledge as the primary nurse for the ill baby that had to be transported. The Flight nurse that picked up the ill neonate said she provided amazing care and her report including all the records needed. She said the neonate they picked up was the most well managed neonate she had ever transported out of Holy Cross. Treatments were spot on, correct antibiotic doses given, gases done, everything was perfect.

Barbie Trujillo – Surgery

Recognized for Accountability
Nominated by Dr. Ismail

Barbie and the whole surgery team had provided wonderful care to herself and her husband Alan during a recent visit. They felt that they were the two most important people that were being cared for that day. They especially wanted to thank Barbie, who works in pre-admission, for taking a careful pre-op history and recommending additional testing. This allowed them to detect a problem they were unaware of and get it addressed. “We could not be happier with our experience”

Thank you Barbie for taking the extra time to make sure each and every patient is ready for surgery, keeping them safe and identifying problems that could cause complications.

Engineering/Plant OPS

Behavior Standard: Accountability

Nominated for the way they handled the leaks and the seal replacement project. Patrick worked tirelessly over one weekend diverting water in the hallways, creatively hooking up hoses to capture the leaking water and catch it in trash cans. He really went out of his way to engineer ways to divert the water. Manual, Julian and Steve all jumped in to help during the seal replacement. Steve would come early each morning and pre-cut the drywall so the contractors could reach the seals. Dennis was instrumental in making sure the Sandi stayed on track and fixes were done correctly. This was a true team effort and everyone took ownership.

LDRP

Dan said, it had been a busy day/night in LDRP, delivered 4 babies, with two ill neonates and despite being short staffed, everyone chipped in with every patient. It was one of the busiest days I had seen at HCMC and the LDRP staff killed it! Thanks to Pam, Irene, Brittany, Evelyn, Tristan, OR, ED and ICU staff who assisted in the needs of the patients that day. The teamwork was exceptional, the atmosphere was busy but not chaotic and Dan said he was exceptionally lucky to be able to perform his job with such astounding individuals. The care of the infant could not have been performed so well if it wasn’t for the entire team working together.

Dr. Ismail – Cardiology

Recognized for Communication
Nominated by Deb Chase

Dr. Ismail has been proactive in assisting our new Cardiologist, Frank Torres, and the team by helping to trouble shoot a solution for the billing of halter monitor visits. She took it upon herself to go to the Billing Department to see where the issue was. She then created a spreadsheet for Dr. Torres to use and spent time coaching him in how to effectively use and submit it. She also communicated with Sam Macarenas, the staff and Deb Chase about what she was hoping to accomplish and how. She addressed the problem promptly, worked with others to improve the workflow, prevent errors and improve the outcome. She worked with everyone involved and focused on patient safety and satisfaction while fixing and improving the process.

Thank you Dr. Ismail for communicating with everyone and for improving a process that was broken.

Irene and Melanie

Recognized for Respect and Courtesy
Nominated by Zoe Gallegos

While working on Med Surg, Irene and Melanie learned of a patient in ICU on comfort care who was passing away.

Melanie went out of her way to check in with the family repeatedly even though she was not assigned to the patient. She showed the family such care and compassion during a difficult time.

Irene moved the patient into a bigger, more private room, making sure everyone was comfortable and that there were enough chairs for everyone.

Thank you to Irene and Melanie for showing such respect and courtesy when it was needed most.

Anna Martinez

Behavior Standard: Respect and Courtesy
Nominated by: Sue Romansky

Sue observed Anna one morning filling multiple coffee cups and placing them on a tray. When asked about the coffee Anna said she had seen a family in the hallway that had spent the night at the hospital and she thought they could use some coffee. Anna didn’t know the family or the circumstances; her only thought was what can I do to help. She was observant, she took ownership and she put herself in their shoes. Anna went above and beyond to be friendly, courteous and respectful. She has a true customer focus and is a great role model for others.