Lucas’ handling of a tense family situation led to her nomination. At one point, family members were highly emotional based on the clinical state of their loved one. Lucas stepped in as the patient’s RN to communicate with the family. She remained calm and engaged with the family, eventually gaining their trust and asking key questions about their needs.
Determined to support the family through the ups and downs of their loved one’s health status, on Friday afternoon, Lucas went to her nurse manager and requested to work the weekend shifts so she could continue to care for the patient.
“At this time, care teams were unsure what would be next for the patient based on the patient’s declining status,” wrote her nominator. “By doing this, I truly believe Kelsey became a cornerstone to this family, a consistent source of hope and guidance for the patient’s care. Her contributions and dedication for this patient were so incredible that the patient went from not being clinically stable to stabilizing enough to be accepted and airlifted to St. Louis for specialized treatment at another facility.”
Her nominator went on to praise Lucas for stepping up, accepting a difficult challenge and persevering in a way that made a positive impact on both the patient and the family members.
Lucas has worked for Springfield Memorial Hospital since 2020.