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Meredith Templeton, RN, Infusion Procedural Center, recently received the 2022 Silver Lining Award for Excellence in Oncology Nursing Practice. The award is granted annually to a nurse who demonstrates compassion, leadership, advocacy, and excellence in the field of oncology nursing at UVA Health. Congratulations, Meredith!

Read Meredith’s nomination below.

Nomination

"Dear Colleagues,

"It is our pleasure to nominate our colleague Meredith Templeton, BSN, Clinician II, for the Silver Lining Award for Excellence in Oncology Nursing. Please see our examples and comments related to her practice.

"Nursing Practice: Meredith is an model in nursing practice. If ever she is not familiar with a patient plan of care or regimen, which is not often, she will use her resources to educate herself and her patient. One patient was receiving a common regimen, R-CHOP, and was quite unfamiliar with the proper self-care and follow up after treatment. Meredith provided the patient with specific education and handouts with everything from infection risk to certain foods to avoid. The word excellent is all I can say when I think about Meredith’s practice. She was my first new graduate in several years. I knew immediately that she was a one-of-a-kind nurse. I would show her the standard, and she would immediately retain and practice as she was taught. That was several years ago. Now, I have seen her grow to a far outstanding nurse than any nurse on our floor. Meredith always follows the UVA protocols. She has been a preceptor to other nurses making sure that they are excellent nurses with high standards. As a charge nurse, she will look at the list of patients for the next day and immediately flag specific patient needs. She recently has placed a patient with bed bugs in a particular room for that. She also has had to transition COVID patients into infusion. When making nursing assignments to these patients the day before they arrive, she is very well aware of the ones who will follow closely the COVID doffing and donning policy. She has made sure that the staff is well cared for, and at the same time, met the needs of these patients safely. Meredith demonstrates strong problem solving everyday at work. For instance, she creatively finds space to add patients to the Infusion Center schedule, or at the end of shift, she consolidates patients and staff to create the safest possible environment. Participates in outcomes-based activities.

"Meredith goes above and beyond for the patients she cares for in the Infusion Center. Her goal is always patient safety. One example of her excellent care is concerning a young, high-anxiety patient. Due to her prognosis, she is quite depressed and often times difficult to care for. Many nurses avoid taking her due to her requests, but Meredith goes out of her way to care for this patient. Meredith was able to connect with this patient when many others couldn't.

"In another example, I was caring for a patient that was having a significant infusion reaction. While I was caring for this patient, I called Meredith because I knew she would drop anything to help, and I needed more hands. Meredith actually had cared for this patient in years passed and was able to immediately calm the patient while I provided medication to reduce his symptoms. Recently I was orienting a new nurse. She was starting a first-time Taxol. We had just checked the medication, and she was starting the titrations. A call for help came from a pod down the hallway. I didn’t want to leave the orientee in case the patient reacted. However, I thought, “What if everyone decided not to come?” So, I quickly went to see if I was needed. I quickly saw quite a team helping and that I was not needed. I also noted that our nurse practitioner who helps with reactions was also helping with a very serious reaction. I quickly returned to my orientee. As I walked into the patient’s room, the patient we were caring for had started to react. I knew we needed help in managing this, but I also knew that the nurse practitioner was already helping something a bit more serious. I call her to come. She always knows what to do. She helped with vitals and called a second nurse practitioner that I was unaware was available. Meredith is like a rock. She is solid.

"Meredith graduated with her BSN last year. She worked all while receiving this degree. She never let her school work impact her devotion to her team and patients.

"Earlier this year, we were in need of a new charge nurse in the Infusion Center. The charge nurse is responsible for many numbers of tasks in infusion, including nurse assignment, patient scheduling, and often times patient triage and care. Meredith thrives in this position. She is an expert multitasker. She is great at problem solving for her teammates, whether it be managing a multi-drug regimen or ensuring her peers have taken lunch breaks. I have seen her provide in-time feedback to another nurse who was not working up to her potential. She is honest, but not confrontational. She is an expert leader and go to nurse for even our most veteran team members. Recently, we were treating a highly anxious patient at the end of the day. It was the first treatment for this patient leading to a heightened level of concern for anaphylactic reaction. Even though it was past Meredith's scheduled time, she stayed to support her colleagues and this extremely anxious patient.

"Meredith was one of our competency leaders with checking off other staff with the collection of blood cultures."

Nomination edited for clarity.

Photo, left to right: Wendy Mbugua, Interim Administrator, Oncology Service Line; Meredith Templeton, RN; Adrienne Banavage, Interim Nurse Manager, Infusion Center; and Sarah Kirby, Interim Director of Clinical Operations, Oncology Services