Nurses are known for their care, compassion and concern. As Katie Strayhorn found out last year, some nurses exceed even that lofty reputation when caring for their patients.
Strayhorn was five months pregnant when she was diagnosed with a blood-clotting disorder and admitted to Chestatee Regional Hospital in Dahlonega. She was scared for herself and her baby, and she didn’t know what to expect.
Her fears soon subsided when she met Ellen Wren, RNC, BSN, the hospital’s director of maternity services at the time. Wren and her staff delivered care that Strayhorn won’t soon forget.
“Ellen and the rest of the nurses were very reassuring and kind while I was a patient,” she wrote in her nomination. “In addition to being the maternity ward supervisor, Ellen was also the nurse assigned to me during my C-section in September. She never left me during the procedure or [in] the hours following the surgery.”
A week after she gave birth to her son, Wyatt, Strayhorn began hemorrhaging and was back at Chestatee Regional.
“Somehow Ellen found out I was in the ER, and she came down to sit with me,” she said. “When she learned that my mother was outside in the car with my 1-week-old newborn, she went outside and got her. She put my mother and child in a room on the maternity ward while they waited on me to get stabilized. She made sure they had everything they needed while they waited.
“While Ellen got my family situated, she asked another one of the maternity nurses to come downstairs and sit with me so I wouldn’t be alone and scared in the ER.”
Wren, now an anchor nurse in the nursery at Northside Forysth Hospital in Cumming, believes that maternity ward care should extend to parents, many of whom are very young and scared when they come to the hospital.
“We can make them and their babies feel loved and cared for when they’re here. They should feel special,” she said.
Strayhorn was hospitalized seven times with pregnancy-related complications. Because she spent so much time at the hospital, she developed a special bond with the staff.
“Everybody here loves Katie. She’s a special person, and it was easy to take care of her,” Wren said. “In a way, she had a family here who cared for her.”
Wren’s care didn’t stop when Strayhorn was released from the hospital.
“She still calls to check on me and the baby,” Strayhorn said. “In a world of very busy lives and many distractions, Ellen Wren is a rare find. She believes in patient care as being the most important part of nursing. I was very lucky to have her during a very scary time.”
Wren appreciates the praise. “It’s very humbling. It makes me overwhelmed,” she said.
On the other hand, Wren emphasized that she was part of a team and what she did is par for the course for nurses.
“She could have written that about seven other people in the department. It wasn’t just me,” she said.
For Wren, who also works as needed (PRN) at Chestatee Regional, nursing is more than a job.
“It’s an amazing opportunity to take care of people. It’s a God-given gift that I have. I really feel like I’ve been called to nursing,” she said.
Helping people makes nursing rewarding, Wren said.
“It’s so wonderful to feel like you’ve had a positive impact on others. It’s kind of funny, but doing what we do, it’s easy to make a difference,” she said. “Who could not have your heart melt when you help someone who is scared — at what can be a very difficult moment?”
Wren was one of two nurses recognized with honorable mention accolades at the ajcjobs Nursing Excellence Awards event on May 4. She was humbled to be honored in front of about 420 people, many of whom are outstanding nurses in their own right.
“It was an amazing event to come to,” she said. “It was wonderful and it made me feel good.”
Each month, we’ll bring you a mini-profile of one of the special nurses nominated for the sixth annual ajcjobs Nursing Excellence Awards.
