During a typical year, Cynthia Stanley spends most of her time caring for patients, providing bedside mentorship to other nurses, collaborating with physicians, managing wound care supplies, and educating clinicians.
Needless to say, the past year has been anything but ‘typical.’
Since the pandemic began in 2020, Cynthia’s role as Infection Control Nurse took on a whole new level of impact and importance.
Cynthia suddenly found herself thrust to the forefront of HCR Home Care as the expert whom so many depended on for answers.
She quickly immersed herself in Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and state Department of Health (DOH) guidance to gather the facts. Her many efforts no doubt spared countless staff, patients, and families from illness or tragedy.
She coordinated a process for ordering Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and calculated burn rates to determine future need.
She wrote agency policies and procedures to align with CDC and DOH guidance for both field and office staff.
She monitored HCR’s “COVID-19 Hotline”; offered instruction and guidance to staff caring for COVID-19 positive patients; and managed a dashboard of patients to track COVID-19 illness.
Patients who were fearful and anxious found reassurance as Cynthia helped them through the recovery process.
She provided live and online education sessions for staff on important COVID-19 topics, organized and hosted COVID-19 testing clinics for field and office staff, and extended her expertise to partner organizations that lacked the resources necessary to establish comprehensive infection-control practices.
These actions not only had a positive impact on the safety of HCR’s staff but also provided much-needed protection for patients and their families.
Through Cynthia’s tireless efforts, HCR Home Care was able to provide uninterrupted service and offer a high degree of comfort during a very uncertain time.
ABOUT THE AWARD
The Caring Award recognizes a staff person of an agency who has exhibited the compassion, skills and service that sets his or her contribution apart and/or whose actions on a particular day or over a period of time exemplify caring in home care.