Carole Poole, BSN, RN, CWS
Piedmont Newnan
Piedmont Newnan’s Carole Poole readily admits her heart is with the elderly. “I just love little old people,” she said. “So many times they have no one else and they’re scared, so I want to break the ice and make them comfortable so they look forward to coming back when they need us,” she said. “As a wound specialist, we see so many of them with multiple needs.”
Poole’s colleague Joan Aina, who nominated her for this year’s awards, says “she goes beyond basic care. She support patients psychologically and makes them smile with her gentle humor.”
One day last year, Poole went beyond the call for an elderly female patient at the hospital. “She was wearing raggedy clothes; her feet were wrapped in worn-out, stained and tattered cloth shoes. She came in for us to dress her feet, which she had soaked in mouthwash to try to ease the pain. I asked her what size she wore – coincidentally my same size – so I gave her my nurses shoes. I’d only had them a few days, but I know she needed them much more than I did.”
Joan Aina adds that Poole keeps extra shoes at work and believes she has done this on more than one occasion. “I am encouraged by her actions … she is very sincere in her approach to care.”
The patient has since returned to the clinic several times and the staff adopted her at Christmas, giving her gifts including clothes and shoes. “She just looked like she needed someone to look out for her, and that’s what we do,” Poole said. “We see patients’ needs and take care of them. And that includes a hug and a smile.”
