Helping the Team While Helping Others

From left: KATHLEEN SHUEY, M.S., RN, ACON, ACNS-BC and LISA CHARTRAND, B.S.N., RN, NE-BC PHOTOS BY KAT RITENOUR

My nominee is the first person you think to call to ask a question, ask for assistance or pick her brain for her vast expertise and knowledge in oncology. Kathleen Shuey, M.S., RN, SCON, ACNS-BC, listens and guides us in the right direction in caring for our oncology population. She is readily available to assist us when we need her. She supports the team by coming to our unit to ask questions, check on things, meet with the team and provide education or checkoffs. She is the first to recognize an opportunity for a project that will benefit our patients and get us started on track to complete the project, often checking in to see if we have questions. She does not do the work for us but leads us to complete the work needed to make lasting improvements that benefit everyone.

She facilitates our oncology nurse forums and our oncology service line practice council. Kathleen has more than 25 years of oncology nursing experience, and you can count on her support and expertise.

KATHLEEN SHUEY, M.S., RN, ACON

It is difficult to recount all the things she has been part of day to day. In oncology, you can expect a wide variety of experiences each day. She has supported our palliative care initiative and the opening of palliative care beds on our unit. She was there to support, guide, mentor and educate. Even more recently, Kathleen set up oncology certified nurse review courses at our facility to assist with certification for our teams. She completed all the slides for and manages the chemotherapy biotherapy renewal course for our teams to ensure the nurses are current in practice. When we had no oncology educator available, she set up the oncology nurse internship classes. She updates us on all new drug regimens, and she is a part of disseminating education for the research trials we are conducting at our facility. When we have a new research patient, she comes to the unit and makes sure we are doing everything correctly. She helps nurses with their projects and poster presentations and encourages them to succeed. She demonstrates compassion for the team when dealing with challenging issues and patient care needs. We have had new supervisors on the oncology units, and Kathleen comes by to mentor and check on them as well as answer any questions.

If you ask her a question that is not in her wheelhouse, she will work to find the answer or direct you to the right questions. It is important to recognize those who support the role of the oncology nurse. She keeps everyone on track while keeping the patient at the center. Many new graduate nurses on our units may not have a lot of oncology education in school. It is important that someone reviews the education and support needs of the team.

There are so many good things to say about Kathleen; I am sure I have left out something when talking about how much I respect and value her on our team.

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