A small act of kindness can go a long way, even more so when you’re taking care of a family member who’s just getting out of the hospital.
Deb Bialeschki and her mom, who was hospitalized at Carle Foundation Hospital, got a dose of that kindness from one of the mom’s nurses, Will Swanson, RN, Carle Internal Agency (CIA).
“I had spent the night with my mom and parked her car down in the parking lot where construction was taking place,” Bialeschki said, “and when I drove around to pick her up in the circle drive, Will was with her curbside with my sister, Diane. Mom was all bundled up and ready to go. Imagine my surprise when Will waved me over and told me the rear passenger side tire was flat.”
Swanson helped Bialeschki and her sister get their mom out of the cold and into the car while they brainstormed their next move. Swanson’s actions show his commitment to caring for patients in all he does.
“He tried to see if maintenance had any canned air to get us to a station, but they didn’t,” Bialeschki said. “Then he looked at me and said, ‘I just had a flat on my truck. Let’s see if there is a spare, and if so, I’ll change it!’ Well, we did, and he did!”
Swanson had the tire changed in less than 15 minutes, and Bialeschki and her mom and sister were on their way home. Thanks to Swanson’s compassion, their afternoon turned out differently than it could have.
“Our afternoon would have been filled with stress, anxiety and worrying about my mom and her health in the cold,” she said. “We had to buy a new tire since it had two puncture holes, but because of Will, that’s it.”
Bialeschki and her family wanted to celebrate this kindness and reached out to Carle Health.
Samantha Bishop, CIA RN manager and Swanson’s one-up said that he’s always looking to help people, and it’s not the first time he’s been recognized for going above and beyond.
“Recently, Will had some downtime on T6 (Tower) and located a drawer of lost cell phones,” Bishop said. “He worked to recover some information on them, to get them back to the right people. Surprisingly, one of the phones belonged to a patient who had been admitted again.
“When he returned the phone to the patient, they were extremely emotional. The patient thought that they had lost the phone forever and it had valuable pictures of family they thought were lost forever.”
Because Swanson got Bialeschki and her mom on their way, they made it home safely and got mom situated where she was able to get on with getting well, as Bialeschki put it.
“He didn’t have to do a thing,” she said. “It certainly wasn’t expected, but he did. He will forever be in our hearts. We wanted to let the administration know of his good actions in hopes of acknowledging his kind efforts.”
This isn’t out of character for Swanson, as he’s constantly getting DAISYs and Gold Stars for making his patients feel like they are a top priority to him.
“He makes everyone feel like his only patient and that they are well cared for,” Bishop said. On top of it all, “Will is engaging and able to adapt to multiple different patient needs. He makes his team laugh as well as supports them. It is a great balance that keeps his co-workers and patients happy.”
Deb Bialeschki and her mom, who was hospitalized at Carle Foundation Hospital, got a dose of that kindness from one of the mom’s nurses, Will Swanson, RN, Carle Internal Agency (CIA).
“I had spent the night with my mom and parked her car down in the parking lot where construction was taking place,” Bialeschki said, “and when I drove around to pick her up in the circle drive, Will was with her curbside with my sister, Diane. Mom was all bundled up and ready to go. Imagine my surprise when Will waved me over and told me the rear passenger side tire was flat.”
Swanson helped Bialeschki and her sister get their mom out of the cold and into the car while they brainstormed their next move. Swanson’s actions show his commitment to caring for patients in all he does.
“He tried to see if maintenance had any canned air to get us to a station, but they didn’t,” Bialeschki said. “Then he looked at me and said, ‘I just had a flat on my truck. Let’s see if there is a spare, and if so, I’ll change it!’ Well, we did, and he did!”
Swanson had the tire changed in less than 15 minutes, and Bialeschki and her mom and sister were on their way home. Thanks to Swanson’s compassion, their afternoon turned out differently than it could have.
“Our afternoon would have been filled with stress, anxiety and worrying about my mom and her health in the cold,” she said. “We had to buy a new tire since it had two puncture holes, but because of Will, that’s it.”
Bialeschki and her family wanted to celebrate this kindness and reached out to Carle Health.
Samantha Bishop, CIA RN manager and Swanson’s one-up said that he’s always looking to help people, and it’s not the first time he’s been recognized for going above and beyond.
“Recently, Will had some downtime on T6 (Tower) and located a drawer of lost cell phones,” Bishop said. “He worked to recover some information on them, to get them back to the right people. Surprisingly, one of the phones belonged to a patient who had been admitted again.
“When he returned the phone to the patient, they were extremely emotional. The patient thought that they had lost the phone forever and it had valuable pictures of family they thought were lost forever.” Because Swanson got Bialeschki and her mom on their way, they made it home safely and got mom situated where she was able to get on with getting well, as Bialeschki put it.
“He didn’t have to do a thing,” she said. “It certainly wasn’t expected, but he did. He will forever be in our hearts. We wanted to let the administration know of his good actions in hopes of acknowledging his kind efforts.”
This isn’t out of character for Swanson, as he’s constantly getting DAISYs and Gold Stars for making his patients feel like they are a top priority to him.
“He makes everyone feel like his only patient and that they are well cared for,” Bishop said. On top of it all, “Will is engaging and able to adapt to multiple different patient needs. He makes his team laugh as well as supports them. It is a great balance that keeps his co-workers and patients happy.”
Categories: Culture of Quality