Sierra Daniels, RN, at a Workstation on Wheels in the Med Surg Department
“I never know what’s going on.” That’s what patients tell Sierra Daniels, RN, when comparing their Hillsdale experience to stays at bigger hospitals. “But here, they communicate better.” Daniels works in the medical surgical department, where patients stay when they’ve been admitted after an ER visit or when they need to be observed after a surgery. Her goal is to help patients reach their optimal health as quickly as possible.
“When patients come in, they’re feeling sick,” she said. “It’s always rewarding to watch people leave feeling better.”
When Daniels arrives at the hospital at 6:45 a.m., she with the nurses who cared for her patients during the night shift. Once she’s up to date and learns about new patients, she starts her rounds with one of the hospital’s workstations on wheels (WoWs). Daniels and the rest of the nurses in medical surgical conduct a series of examinations on each patient throughout the day, including two head-to-toe assessments, blood sugar checks and pain evaluations. During these exams, Daniels charts the patient’s information in real-time on the computer built into the WoWs, and has all her supplies at the ready in the drawers below the monitor. “The goal for nursing in the med surg department is to provide patient-centered compassionate care involving the patient throughout their stay,” she said.
Whether a hospital stay consists of a simple post-surgical observation or a critical condition that requires more frequent nursing intervention, every patient feels more at ease when their condition and care plan are explained thoroughly, in terms that make sense and build rapport between them and the nurses.
At the end of the day, Daniels reports on her patients to the nurses starting their shifts. This creates a flow of information that maintains continuity for patients’ day-and-night care. Rather than having a different person for each IV, medication and check-in, the team at Hillsdale Hospital is intentional about getting to know their patients so that each care decision can be made in a timely and effective manner. According to Daniels, it’s one of the best parts about working for a small rural hospital.
“Every day I come to work, I learn something new,” she said. “There’s this opportunity to realize how the hospital functions and how each department works together to help a patient.” The other aspect of Hillsdale Hospital that makes the nursing experience unique is the community Sierra’s team has found in their work together. “I love my coworkers,” she shared, “We have the sort of culture where as soon as you walk in the building, you’re family.”
