Robert "Bob" Fish, On Call RN at Zusman Hospice
Sometimes doing what you love doesn’t feel like a job, but more of a calling. How many can honestly say they love what they do and believe they are making a difference. Based on the nomination from Zusman Hospice Executive Director, Rebecca Sears, we believe Bob has found his calling and is definitely making a difference.
When we arrived to surprise Bob in front of his peers, he attributed the great care Zusman Hospice patients receive to the support of his team.
Here is what Rebecca had to say about Bob:
Bob is by far the best Weekend Warrior I have ever worked with. His level of compassion and commitment to our patients/families and team makes us all want to work together to ensure our patients have the best experience possible. We have received many compliments from families on the bedside presence and comfort that Bob has given. As a weekend on call RN, he has to quickly develop rapport and trust with the patient and family. He does this by finding ways to connect. We had a patient who was declining quickly and needed a respite as his caregiver was beyond exhausted. The respite was scheduled for Saturday morning. There were issues with transportation, and he met our manager at the home to help with getting him to the facility. Once there at the facility for respite, tension and anger from younger members of the family grew over the facility’s broken air conditioning system making the room oppressively hot and uncomfortable (this was during the heatwave toward the end of June). Bob redirected the family to focus on the spouse and patient having their final hours be peaceful and not to spend energy and anger over something that couldn't be controlled. Bob learned that this patient served in the Airforce. Bob made a promise to the spouse as a former Airforce officer that Bob would do his best to help him in his journey. Following this patient’s death the spouse, her daughter and son-in-law expressed deep gratitude for Bob and all of his help in managing the patient’s care, Bob took the time to build trust with the family, build trust and working relationship with nursing staff at the facility. He then gave credit to the hospice team for allowing him the time to be there at bedside for this patent and his family. Another family member expressed great gratitude to Bob as she feels he took the time to get to know her father and feels like this helped him to pass peacefully. She stated he was the last one to really be with her father while he was alive and that it meant so much to her to see the compassion and patience that Bob had with him and her. Another daughter called Bob a “Godsend.” Her mother had PTSD due to a very difficult past, and Bob took extra time on a very busy weekend to give her and the daughter a lot of emotional support. He took the time needed to have the patient take medication to ease her symptoms. He gave a lot of encouragement to the daughter and was able to make the patient more comfortable and keep her at home. We also had a situation where we admitted a patient on a Friday, and he was a veteran with cancer. He was transitioning quickly, and the patient and family needed a lot of education, support and symptom management. He once again went above and beyond in connecting with this family and ensuring that this veteran’s journey was peaceful and comfortable. The family was in awe over the care and compassion they were shown especially over a weekend and how he made sure the patient’s dignity was maintained. He consistently uplifts the hospice team and often sends out emails highlighting the amazing teamwork and care he sees. He always follows through and sends out detailed report with precise needed follow up. We are extremely fortunate to have Bob on our team covering the weekends. Hospice is 24/7 and having such a compassionate, dedicated RN to deliver that care inspires the rest of team to strive for excellence.
Congratulations, Bob. You exemplify what it means to be a hospice caregiver.
If you know someone like Bob and would like to nominate them for the Hospice Caregiver Award by Schoedinger, just visit our website https://www.thecaregivingtree.com/hospice-caregiver-award/nominate-a-caregiver. Be sure to give examples about why this person deserves to be nominated.