Every day, a growing number of dedicated nurses care for aging adults and people with complex medical needs inside their homes, administering daily medications, providing relief from the symptoms and stress of a serious illness, and managing personalized plans of care. To pay tribute to the specialized and tireless work of thousands of nurses throughout the network, BrightStar Care launched a national Nurse of the Year program to recognize the nurses who are working hard to deliver A Higher Standard of Home Care each and every day. This year, our Field Nurse Hope Alexander was nominated. Here is the nomination letter about Hope: It gives me great pleasure to nominate Hope to be our BrightStar Care's Nurse of the Year. The phrase “goes the extra mile” does not define Hope’s willingness, her concern for her patients and the compassionate professionalism she brings to her job. In the 10 months we have known her, she has helped us out at the drop of a hat, she has taken on CNA work, she has worked at medical shows for us demonstrating wound care techniques with diabetics, she has helped us orientate CNA’s and she has provided leadership and coordination skills on cases where multiple agencies have been involved. Her fabulous work is well illustrated if one reviews three recent cases that she recently worked.
- Mrs. Harjani was referred to us in December 2014. She was being discharged from an Atlanta hospital to live with her three daughters in Marietta. Her diagnosis was complicated involving mechanical ventilation, catheterization and many other tubes and drains. The people involved in her care included her three daughters, a respiratory coach, an RN from her insurance company, a physical therapist and a hospice company offering palliative care. Hope went out every day for three hours in the morning to treat the tubes and pegs, help the daughters arrange the meds for the day and to keep records of who was coming in and out. Unfortunately the patient was repeatedly readmitted to hospital. At the beginning of February Hope saved Mrs. Harjani’s life. The patient became unresponsive as she was rolled over during sheet changing, Hope performed chest compressions for over 20 minutes as she waited for the ambulance to arrive. She eventually came around as the ambulance arrived. Hope’s comments about the incident were just a complaint that her arms ached.
- Mr. Bunch suffered from ALS and was looked after by his wife when they came into town to visit their daughter. He was pretty immobile by the time Hope met him but his wife felt his condition had got better in the last few months. She put this down to the mixture of vegetable shakes she made for him and fed to him through his tube. Mrs. Bunch was very much into holistic medicine and derived a lot of comfort from researching and making up organic potions for him. Hope very much supported her in this. She helped with the administration of them and spent some of her free time finding the strange ingredients that made up the shakes. Mrs. Bunch trusted Hope with her husband’s care to the extent that she would leave him for a day in Hope’s care so that she could enjoy time with her daughter and granddaughter.
- Mrs. Whitfield was discharged from hospital suffering from a serious infection and a nasty wound on her foot. Hope visited her daily to change the dressing on the wound, extreme care was needed to insure that the infection did not spread. When we finished services and his wife had made a full recovery, Dr. Whitfield wrote this about Hope….. “Mrs. Hope Alexander was a true blessing. She worked closely with our family and provided support and care to the highest medical standards. She was at all times adaptable to the family schedule and encouraging in my wife’s recovery. Certainly, in this situation, you and your staff lived up to your company’s name. Hope was a BrightStar in a dark situation.”