Letter: Nurses make the difference

To the community,

This week is National Nurses Week. It was May 12, 1820, that Florence Nightingale was born. Nightingale is most known for her work during the Crimean War of 1854. She and a team of 34 nurses improved the unsanitary conditions at a British base hospital, reducing the death count by two-thirds.

She became known as “the Lady with the Lamp” or the “Angel of the Crimea.” She was given these names because of her constant watch and care of the soldiers – when she and her team arrived at the hospital, not only did the soldiers need wound care, but the hospital was filthy and in unmentionable conditions. Her writings sparked worldwide health care reform. In 1860 she established St. Thomas’ Hospital and the Nightingale Training School for Nurses.

Transitions in Care nurses: Cesilia Uribe, R.N.; Emily Barkley, R.N.; Melissa Dahl, R.N., P.H.N.; and Andrea Baldwin, R.N. Photo/Provided

Still today, nurses play a critical role in the care of a patient. Their compassion and knowledge helps keep the health care setting steadily going strong.

As South Lake Tahoe’s only acute-care facility in this world-renowned destination area, our 200 nurses are dedicated to caring for Tahoe residents and visitors alike. They sit at the bedside and meet every need possible for patients. While putting their emotions aside, they communicate with patients’ loved ones at some of the toughest times of their lives. Often times, nurses treat visitors who have unexpected accidents or suffer from illness while on vacation. Not only has their adventure been delayed or canceled, but they are in an unfamiliar place and with a different culture. Nurses have become experts at understanding and empathizing with people from the all over the world. By using interpreter services to communicate in more than 100 languages, nurses have been able to build strong relationships with patients and their loved ones.

To all of you who serve in not only the inpatient and outpatient areas of the hospital but in various areas of our health care system, such as Barton’s urgent care, community clinic, family and internal medicine, ski clinics, surgery center, pediatrics, imaging, occupational medicine, long-term-care, home health, hospice, sports medicine, telehealth and many more – you are amazing. You have been critical in researching, introducing and implementing new programs based on evidence. Additional achievements include reducing the number of hospital-related infections (by 65 to 100 percent); you have been instrumental in the Patient-Family Centered Care Initiative to allow for 24-hour visitation at the bedside; received national recognition of the Transitions in Care Program, where specially trained nurses in chronic disease management assist patients after they leave the hospital. Several of your initiatives have helped move Barton Memorial Hospital to reach its highest patient satisfaction scores in history.

Whether you have just started your nursing journey or you have been here for 40 years – we are proud of your contributions, continuous passion and commitment to patient care.

Sincerely,

Barton Health’s Nursing Administration