Speaker 1:

Welcome to Hospitals and Focus, from the Federation of American Hospitals. Here’s your host, Chip Kahn.

Chip Kahn:

Joining me today on Making the Rounds is Jennifer Brady, a nurse at LifePoint Health’s Havasu Regional Medical Center in Arizona. Jen is a recent recipient of a Daisy Award, which honors nurses who go beyond the call of duty, providing extraordinary care to patients and their families every day. Jen’s nomination for this award came from one of her patients and exemplifies every quality you’d want in a nurse, dedication, compassion, professionalism, and perhaps most importantly, empathy. Jen, thank you so much for joining us today.

Jennifer Brady:

Well, thank you for having me.

Chip Kahn:

Jen, just to get started, can you tell us why you became a nurse?

Jennifer Brady:

Well, I have three children and all of them were born with some kind of medical condition, so over the years, being in the hospital with caring for them and staying with them, I was able to see wonderful nurses who were able to teach me how to care for my children and give me the education and encouragement that I needed. So one day, I decided that I wanted to be that for someone else and went back to nursing school.

Chip Kahn:

Wow. It’s your kids that inspire you to serve patients so compassionately?

Jennifer Brady:

Yes.

Chip Kahn:

That’s great. What is the most unexpected part of your job at Havasu Regional Medical Center that you love doing?

Jennifer Brady:

So I love being able to be helpful to not only my unit, but the other units here in the hospital, and be a resource nurse for everyone.

Chip Kahn:

It sounds like you’ve taken on a leadership role. Can you describe that in terms of your relations with other nurses?

Jennifer Brady:

Well, I’ve been a charge nurse team lead, is what we call it here in our facility, for three years on IMC. It’s our ICU step down unit. And now, I am the clinical coordinator there, so I’m training all of the team leads and new nurses or college students that come in for their clinicals and helping all of the nurses, helping with wound care. I help with all the paperwork. We don’t have unit secretaries, so teaching the other nurses how to use the computer system and do some of that secretarial work as well.

Chip Kahn:

That’s terrific. What was it like receiving the Daisy Award and to read the nomination from one of your patients praising your care?

Jennifer Brady:

Well, that was wonderful. I cried happy tears. It was very, very, very thoughtful, exactly what I needed to hear. I hope everyone receives one in their time as a nurse.

Chip Kahn:

You know, we’ve all been dealing with the pandemic now going into the third year. How do you stay motivated in this current environment to continue providing the kind of critical care to your patients that they depend on?

Jennifer Brady:

Well, I know what it feels like to be a patient in the hospital and to be a family member there at the bedside, scared with a million fears and nothing but hope. I just always try and remind myself what that felt like and try and be there for them.

Chip Kahn:

That’s so wonderful. Your work and outlook is so inspiring. What would you say to people out there thinking about entering the field of nursing?

Jennifer Brady:

Well, if you want to help others, it’s definitely the perfect profession for you. We definitely need more people who care and want to make the world a better place so if that is what you want to do, I have all the faith in you. It’s never too late.

Chip Kahn:

Jen, thank you so much for your service and what you do every day for your patience and the other staff at Havasu Regional Medical Center.

Jennifer Brady:

Well, thank you.

Speaker 1:

Thanks for listening to Hospitals and Focus, from the Federation of American Hospitals. Learn more at fah.org. Follow the Federation on social media @FAHhospitals, and follow Chip @chipkahn. Please rate, review, and subscribe to Hospitals and Focus. Join us next time for more in depth conversations with healthcare leaders.

 

Jennifer Brady