Mayo Nurse Honored With Extraordinary Healer Award by Her Patient
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Each year, CURE magazine gives readers a chance to honor an oncology nurse who they believe "went above and beyond to help them heal" by nominating them for the magazine's annual Extraordinary Healer Award. Patients are asked to support their nomination with an essay about "the compassion, expertise and helpfulness" their nurse showed in their care. Essays are published on the magazine's website, and "the top essayists and their nurses" are also featured in a book series titled, "Extraordinary Healers: CURE Readers Honor Oncology Nurses." This year, one of those extraordinary healers is Mayo Clinic's own Emily Knight, an oncology nurse at Mayo's Arizona campus.
Patient Ron Kruszewski begins his essay by calling Knight "a great oncology nurse from a patient's viewpoint." He then chronicles the many ways Knight serves as a "key interface" for him during his appointments at Mayo Clinic. These include providing information and explanation of "doctor's orders, prescription drug orders, and proper usage and side effects of my prescription drugs," he writes. And that's just the beginning.
Where Knight really shines, Ron says, is in her ability to "navigate" the digital and remote aspects of his care. "Because I have a serious blood cancer and rely on experts at a major medical center (Mayo Clinic) in another part of the country for my treatment strategy, this requires some unique interfacing," he writes. "Emily successfully provides me with the ability to access expert help and care … as if it was around the block from me."
And if she goes too long without hearing from him between appointments or lab results, Ron says Knight goes "above and beyond" to find out why. "Emily is so on top of my lab work … that if I am on vacation, or for some other reason have missed my planned scheduled lab work by more than a few days, she will contact me to verify that I am okay and to find out what is happening," he writes.
While she admits she's "honored" by Ron's essay, Knight tells us she doesn't believe she does anything "extraordinary" in his care. "I was honored when he told me he was going to write it, but I don't see anything that I've done for Ron as going above and beyond," she says. "Still, it does mean a lot to know that when you come to work every day, you're having this kind of impact on the lives of your patients."
You can read the rest of Ron's essay here. Then, put your thoughts to paper by sharing your comments below. Share this story with others using the handy social media tools.