“Every time our nurse, Teresa, comes into the room, she always makes sure we are comfortable,” wrote a Texas Children’s patient family. “I’ve cried to her about our circumstances many times, and she comforted me. I believe she goes above and beyond her duties to make sure our time here is as nice as possible.”
This heartfelt note shared by a mother of a 9-month-old patient who was treated for an extensive brain injury at Texas Children’s shows how important it is to keep the patient family’s experience at the forefront of everything we do. A small gesture can go a long way to show just how much we care for our patients.
Every day at Texas Children’s, employees like Teresa Gomez make a positive difference. Whether for our patients or colleagues, these small acts of kindness often determine the experience we create. Gomez’s kindness not only made the stressful time less difficult for the family, but her selfless actions also caught the attention of her team members who shared her story on a Caught You Caring card.
Launched in 2015, Caught You Caring is a system wide program that allows patients, families and staff, to recognize employees who have gone above and beyond their role to provide compassion and kindness to another person. This could be in the care of a patient, service to a family or in support of a coworker.
Gomez, and six other Caught You Caring Award recipients, were recognized this year. In lieu of a formal ceremony due to COVID-19, Patient and Care Services coordinated surprise reveals for each of the winners that included a trophy and certificate presentation in the presence of their leadership teams.
Here are this year’s Caught You Caring Award winners:
- Patricia Bratcher, Team Leader/PPCT – Specimen Management, The Woodlands. Pat is a genuine leader. Her colleagues say she always has a smile on her face and a hug for her patients if they need it. She takes the time to truly listen and consistently helps her patients, and their caregivers alike, feel at ease. A patient family described Pat in this way: “Miss Pat was the phlebotomist who took my child’s blood. She was so patient and made sure my nervous daughter was comfortable. She not only made us laugh but she also built up my daughter and boosted her esteem. We walked away from a stressful situation feeling better than we did when we arrived.”
- Toni Davis, Lead ASR – West Campus Sleep Lab. Toni genuinely cares for people and she exemplifies that every day. If a patient, a family or a co-worker is in need, she takes the initiative to lend a helping hand. For example, when a family from out of town arrived the day before their child’s sleep study, the patient had a medical concern that needed immediate physician follow-up. The WC Sleep Lab physicians were not in clinic that day and the family was very anxious to see a physician. After making several phone calls, Toni was able to get their child evaluated by a physician at the Medical Center Campus on the same day and the family was very grateful.
- Amanda Feilke, PA Surgical Hospitalist, The Woodlands. Amanda is a dependable and strong leader, a valuable clinical reference for her APP peers, and an advocate for her patients. A colleague recalls a time when Amanda spent countless times providing support and reassurance to a family whose child had spent several months in the NICU. During her days off, Amanda would come to the NICU to check up on her patient and the family. The consistent presence and reliable source of knowledge served as a stabilizing force for this family who had experienced a lot of chaos and uncertainty. Furthermore, Amanda arranged for a professional photographer to take pictures with the family and their baby that they ended up using for holiday greeting cards.
- Teresa Gomez, Staff Nurse, 10 West Tower. Teresa places her patients, their families, and co-workers first in everything she does. Following discharge earlier in the week, a child’s g-tube had been accidentally dislodged and the patient’s parent was unable to reach anyone in clinic over the weekend. Teresa wasn’t charging at the time, but was quick to come to the charge nurse’s aide, volunteering to speak with the parents over the phone. She calmly coached them through the process. The family was especially grateful for Teresa’s patience with them and her willingness to pause from caring for her other patients on the unit to assist this patient family and nurse.
- Susan Hardy-Croskey, MFM Clinical Nurse Coordinator, Medical Center Campus. As a member of the Nursing Retention Council, Susan strives to make working at Texas Children’s the best it can be. She ensures her team is providing the safest care to patients, and she makes sure to educate her patients as much as possible on the importance of prenatal care and follow up. We recently had a patient with many needs who had issues with transportation. Susan continuously checked on her via MyChart and phone when the patient could not make it to TCH due to distance. Susan helped her find assistance closer to home, and the patient was forever grateful.
- Analisa Luedtke, Spanish Interpreter, Medical Center Campus. Analisa is professional, thorough and positive in her interactions with families, faculty and staff in the ICU, where children face complex diagnoses, medical issues and/or end-of-life issues. Her colleagues describe her as a model of politeness, calmness and grace, and no matter how busy she is caring for other patients and their families, she welcomes opportunities to help her colleagues in the most challenging situations. For example, when a patient in the PICU was nearing end-of-life and the family needed an interpreter, Analisa enthusiastically volunteered to help the family even though she was not assigned to the PICU that day. A colleague wrote, “I have always found Ms. Luedtke to be a wonderful partner to help me work with families. I am honored to call her my colleague.”
- Steven Zack Wirt, Therapy Supervisor, PM&R. Steven demonstrates what it means to be a tireless leader. In times of high stress or difficult situations in the Inpatient Rehabilitation Unit (IRU), Steven is problem focused and solution driven. He provides positive and constructive feedback with equal caring and compassion. When a patient with a severe brain injury was admitted to the IRU, Steven, with the medical team’s support, determined new therapeutic techniques were needed for this patient. Without his leadership, recognition of a need, and development of a solution, the outcome for this patient would not have been as positive.
Caught You Caring: How to submit nominations
Texas Children’s wants to continue to recognize those who take great pride in the work they do and encourage patients, families and employees to catch someone who is making a difference.
“Keeping the Caught you Caring program top of mind is an important part of our recognition efforts and strengthening morale across the organization,” said Saraben Turner, senior project manager for Patient and Family Services. “We are always looking for new ways to shine the light on this program, because every day is a day to celebrate our employees for going above and beyond for our patients.”
If you’d like to nominate a colleague for this award, click here to access the submission form.