Micah Tenny

Responsibilities and Impact

• Provided trauma-informed de-escalation, redirection, and care to 400+ patients, aiding in department wide stabilization efforts.
• Fostered an exceptionally therapeutic common area environment, personally reducing seclusion and restraint use by at least 25% through intentionally selected television, activities, and tone.
• Initiated and managed all unit food, waste, and upkeep processes, ensuring compliance with state and federal regulations, maintaining a hygienic environment for patients and staff.
• Utilized EPIC electronic charting to document daily behaviors, alongside additional collaboration with the hospital psychiatric team, contributing to 20+ comprehensive patient assessments weekly, improving care plan accuracy markedly.
• Conducted 15-minute rounding and monitored vital signs, proactively ensuring patient health and safety.

Professional Growth and Lessons

• Refined trauma-informed care skills by integrating systemic risk factors, available patient history, and current affect into clinical interactions, leading to more effective and personalized care.
• Improvement with patient interactions led to enhanced de-escalation, increased patient trust in sharing their history, and more empowering conversations.
• Gained first outpatient clinical experience, becoming more opportunistic in trust building and timely empathy.
• Strengthened consensus-building skills and became a confident leader within hierarchal hospital settings.
• Secured managerial approval for three initiatives presented in monthly unit meetings: revamped patient rule sheets, a free winter gear supply for discharged patients maintained by philanthropic foundation funding, and enhanced visitor contraband checks.
• Rule sheets given to all patients upon admit, winter gear distributed to 30+ patients, enhanced checks prevented at least two potentially violent scenarios.

Responsibilities and Impact

• Provided hands-on assistance to 10+ residents per shift with bathing, dressing, and feeding, ensuring patient dignity and comfort.
• Performed incontinence care every 2-4 hours, preventing skin breakdown and infections.
• Engaged residents in conversation during cares, helping to intermittently reduce feelings of isolation promoting mental well-being.
• Executed rigorous infection control protocols during COVID-19, maintaining the safety of the 70-resident facility through proper hand hygiene, PPE, and patient illness reporting.
• Monitored and reported irregular vital signs at the beginning of each shift, enabling timely interventions among nursing staff.

Professional Growth and Lessons

• Witnessed significant healthcare disparities as COVID-19 disproportionately affected the vulnerable staff and residents of North Central Care Center, highlighting the urgent needs of underserved populations and reinforcing my commitment to equitable care.
• Enhanced medical floor communication skills working alongside other NACs, RNs, and wound care teams, improving coordination and patient outcomes.
• Developed greater efficiency in crisis conditions, effectively managing challenges such as understaffing and rapid patient decompensation during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Found profound fulfillment in end-of-life care environments, serving as a personal counterweight to burnout. This fulfillment deepened when caring for a Veteran resident, inspiring me to pursue a career in palliative care for Veterans.