Connect

Treating Patients Requires More Than Medication
“You can’t be a nurse without having a caring heart and without assessing all aspects of your patient.”

Wise words coming from a nurse who is fresh out of nursing school and less than two years on the job.

That’s a quote from Taylor McDonnell, RN, who exemplifies compassionate care every shift in the Post-Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU).

She recently helped a patient who was distraught after surgery and crying uncontrollably, asking for her dad. The patient, in her 60s, had just come out of surgery, and was acting disoriented. McDonnell knew sometimes anesthesia can cause certain reactions, like confusion.

After asking orientation questions, McDonnell determined the patient was coherent and decided to investigate the patient’s cries for her father. McDonnell, showing respect for the patient’s needs, drilled down to the cause of the patient’s despair.

“As a nurse, you have to be a little bit of a detective to figure out exactly what is going on with your patient,” McDonnell said. “Is this pain? Is this anesthesia? Is this confusion? Or is this something else? You have to ask questions to get to the bottom of it.”

McDonnell determined the patient truly needed the sound of her father’s voice to comfort her over anything else. McDonnell was able to call the patient’s father, who lives out of town, and allow the patient to speak with him.

At first, the patient was crying more hysterically than before. But, after a 10-minute conversation, she stopped. Her tears dried, her face relaxed, and her grip on the bedrails released. She was calm.

“It didn’t require pain medicines or any medicines at all; it was a human connection she required to feel better after surgery,” McDonnell said.

This small act of kindness meant the world to the patient. After discharge, the patient wrote the following note about McDonnell’s assistance: “Everyone was very professional, attentive and focused on my condition and needs. I would like to give special kudos to the nurse in the recovery room. I so desperately wanted to speak to my father, who wasn’t there. After talking to me about it, she asked his home phone number. The next thing I knew, she had him on the phone, and I was able to talk to him. I could not have asked for more. To me that was really special.”

McDonnell appreciated the time the patient took to recognize her. “I didn’t think twice about it,” McDonnell said. “It’s something that was so small and took, at most, five minutes. But, the fact that it meant so much to [the patient], that she wanted to let other people know, is amazing to me. It doesn’t take a long time to do something special for somebody.”

The Start of Something Good
In the UVA School of Nursing, McDonnell remembers so much of her coursework focused on the human aspect of nursing. Back then, she was more interested in learning about the clinical side—subjects like anatomy and pharmacology.

“As a student, I wanted to save lives in terms of EKGs and assessments,” she said. “Now I see why they emphasized [the human connection]. You can’t be a nurse without having a caring heart and without assessing all aspects of your patient.”

McDonnell became a nurse in the PACU in August 2016, and she has exemplified excellence in patient care ever since.

“I knew from the start that there was something special about her; it is rare to see a brand-new nurse with such old-soul​ characteristics,” said Angela Cyphert, RN, Nurse Manager, PACU. “Her caring manner is equally as strong as her excellent critical-thinking abilities and sharp clinical skills. Taylor is a true example of a compassionate caregiver, and we are so very lucky to have her as a part of our PACU team.”

Ellie Bergland, RN, Assistant Nurse Manager, PACU, is glad to have someone on her team who “gets it.” Bergland has enjoyed watching McDonnell bloom and thrive as a nurse.

“Taylor has a deep understanding of the nursing profession that surpasses her clinical years,” Bergland said. “She is able to see patients as people and is always willing to go the extra mile. Her limitless compassion spills over to her colleagues, and she is truly a team player.”

At night, McDonnell goes home and remembers her interactions with her patients, not their doses of medicine or blood pressure readings. She remembers how a patient gave her a hug, shared a personal story, or provided a word of advice.

“I think that’s the part they remember, too,” she said. “That’s the part that inspires me every day at work.”