At a reception recently, Skipper Bondurant, administrator and CEO at Baptist Union City, recognized five-year Baptist team member Paula Davis, a registered nurse in the hospice department, as Service First Champion for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2014.
Her nomination reads as follows: “I would like to nominate Paula Davis for the Service First award for her work with an inpatient hospice patient. This was a young woman with terminal lung cancer who was being inducted into the Obion County Fair Hall of Fame for her dedication to teaching the importance of agriculture to the youth of Obion County. It was thought that she would be unable to attend the ceremonies due to her condition and admission into the inpatient hospice program. One of the goals of hospice is to assist patients in achieving their goals, if possible. Paula decided to make this possible. She contacted the hospice director, who contacted administration and got the OK to proceed with a plan to get the patient to the fair. Friends were contacted to come to the hospital to help the patient dress and get her makeup done. With the assistance of respiratory therapy, a hospitalist, and pharmacy, Paula was able to get portable oxygen, a wheelchair, and medications to make the patient comfortable. A dear friend of the patient was contacted and it was arranged for the Obion County Rescue Squad to be available to provide transportation from the patient’s vehicle to the agriculture pavilion and to have a fan set up by her seat. Paula then accompanied the patient to the fair and stayed with her until the end of the program. She then came back to the hospital and assisted the family in getting the patient settled back into bed. During this time, the patient enjoyed seeing many of the children she assisted during fair season to get their animals ready to show. But there is another thing Paula did for this family; the patient’s daughter was performing in the fair show the next night and she was not certain about going. Her father encouraged her to go and Paula again, went to the fair to be there to get the daughter back if needed. Paula did get that call and got the daughter back to the hospital in time to say good bye to her mother. There is a quote from Dame Cicely Saunders, the founder of the modern hospice movement, that says, ‘You matter to the last moment of your life, and we will do all we can, not only to help you die peacefully, but to live until you die.’ That is what Paula helped this young woman to do and what makes her a fantastic hospice nurse.”