2022 AWARD WINNERS

Rose-Annie Ofori

FON Photos edited x ofori

Rose-Annie Ofori

BSN, RN-BC

Clinical Nurse IV

Adult General Medicine Stepdown Unit 2300

Duke University Hospital

Award:

Norma L. Harris Award for Excellence in Nursing Practice
SPONSORS

DNP, NP-C, AACC, FAANP

Rose-Annie has been a nurse for 21 and a half years, all of them on the Adult General Medicine Stepdown Unit at Duke University Hospital.  She tirelessly gives 110% to her patients and her team.  When they moved to a different floor, she willingly volunteered to get the unit up and running.  When the unit transitioned to caring for COVID patients, she was on the forefront as the primary Charge Nurse who was always visible, supportive and available.  Rose-Annie said:  At that time, there was no family visitation allowed.  We became their families, we stay at the bedside when they are dying just to hold their hands so that they don’t die alone.  And we look out for each other.

INTEGRITY

She is known and well-respected among her peers, providers and other members of the health care team to be a nurse of integrity, honesty and the highest moral standards.  She always does the right thing, even if it may take longer or require additional resources to accomplish the goal of improving the patient experience, or to help a coworker in need.  Whether going downstairs to pick up food from a family member for a patient who has a poor appetite and cultural preferences to try to get them to take some nutrition for healing, or collaborating with a peer to put together and deliver a care package for a seriously ill coworker – you can always count on her to go above and beyond to help.  She is consistent and purposeful in everything she does.  She is brave enough to share her honest opinion and feedback – even in challenging situations or when it may not be popular to do so.  She understands the value in honesty and how it is crucial to success and to help the team problem-solve and move forward.  Her honesty comes from the heart and from a place of love and caring.  She’s true to her word and you can always count on her to follow-through on her commitments.

EXCELLENCE

She’s a senior nurse on our unit and has been a Clinical Nurse IV for well over a decade.  She’s a BSN, certified in med-surg nursing and is a Superuser/Champion for numerous clinical initiatives relevant to our clinical specialty.  She could honestly teach most, if not all of the stations for our annual Skills Week validation.  She’s a unit expert for patient care, ensures our staff demonstrates best practices and follows the policies and procedures of DUH.  She’s a CLABSI Champion, Pain Champion, Lift/Duke MOVES Champion, Geriatric Resource Nurse and Epidural/Regional Superuser.  She does a great job holding staff accountable for deviations in nursing practice and discourages shortcuts that may lead to errors or risk patient safety.  She served as the primary Charge Nurse when our unit transitioned to the care of COVID patients back at the start of the pandemic in March of 2020 and remained abreast of all of the changes in policy and practice that occurred for the past two years.  She also coached our nurses to ensure they were following the research protocols for our COVID patients who agreed to participate in clinical trials in hopes of improving the care of patients infected with this novel virus.

INNOVATION

She’s dedicated her nursing career of over 20 years to the care of patients on the Adult General Medicine Service.  Our patient population has complex medical needs, and she is always receptive to learning innovative ways of improving their care and implementing evidenced-based practice.  She is always one of the first nurses to complete the training for any new or changing standards of practice.  Although she’s an experienced nurse, she’s never satisfied with the status quo and is always eager to learn something new.  The care of our patients often involves several body systems, but there are often psychological, emotional and social needs as well.  She has a remarkable understanding of the needs of our patient population and will do all that she can to improve their health and patient experience – no matter how special they may be.  She’s one of our main unit resources of information on new policies or devices.  She knows where the find the information and if she’s unsure, she will investigate and contact the key people to ensure she’s providing the staff the correct information and that staff are following the new policy or procedure correctly.

COLLABORATION

She is well-known and respected among her peers, providers and all members of the interdisciplinary health care team.  She’s collaborative and encourages everyone on the team to work together to meet the common goal of providing excellent patient care.  She’s a patient advocate and will appeal to providers to try to meet the needs of patients and their loved ones.  One of our patients who had a poor prognosis was declining and wouldn’t eat any of her meals.  She took the time to talk with the patient to find out what she liked to eat and discovered she loved seafood.  She shared this information with her provider, and our provider ordered her favorite meal – Red Lobster.  The patient ate the entire meal and, unfortunately, passed away the next day.  Although the outcome was not what we hoped for, she felt relieved that she was able to provide some joy to a patient who was near the end of her journey.  If a patient was uninsured and needed dressings or supplies to care for themselves at home, she would collaborate with our crossover partners to help get them what they needed.  She listens to patients’ and their loved ones’ concerns to try to understand their individualized needs and what resources are needed to meet those needs.

CARING

She is very spiritual and maintains an awareness of the needs of her patients and her team.  If a patient exhibits signs of despair or verbalizes spiritual needs, she seamlessly steps in and takes the time to pray with them to try to instill hope and a sense of peace.  Even after patients have transferred to other units, some call the unit requesting her to come and pray with them, and she jumps at the opportunity.  We’ve had discharged patients come back to visit and personally thank her for being so caring and tending to their spirit during their time of need.  She was recently mentioned in comments from a HCAHPS patient survey for praying for them at a time when they needed it the most.  She will often take the time out of a busy day to listen to the concerns of a patient or family member, comfort a dying patient or encourage a coworker who is having a challenging shift.  She’ll go the extra mile to just be present and listen to a patient or loved one going through a tough time.  If a family member or coworker is in need, she wouldn’t hesitate to offer her help.  Without hesitation, she will give her last dollar to help someone in need.

IMPACT STATEMENT

As a Duke nurse, she truly exemplifies Swanson’s Theory of Caring by incorporating integrity, excellence, innovation and collaboration into her everyday practice.

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Friends of Nursing Gala 2021

Friends of Nursing Gala 2021

Friends of Nursing Gala 2021