It is my pleasure to nominate my colleague, Deana Shea Haines, for a 2021 Nursing Hero Award. Deana is a nurse in the Health Sciences Centre Emergency Department in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador. Throughout the pandemic, Deana has provided continuous and compassionate leadership during what has been an incredibly stressful period in our department and community. Walking in for one of my shifts, she was out in full PPE to swab an elderly gentleman prior to an urgent procedure. She made this happen to save the patient from coming into the hospital and in doing so, ensured the procedure could go ahead. This is just one example of the many small tasks that she does in a day, always with consideration for patients and her team at the forefront of her mind. In any critical patient encounter, Deana is the first person to lend a helping hand. There was one night where a team was called stat to the triage area for a woman in labor. Deana remained calm, made sure that all required personnel were available, and was the first to assist at the bedside. I remember her steady voice and presence as a comfort to the patient, her family, and the medical staff. Deana is an excellent educator, mentor, and advocate for patient and family-focused care. However, one of her most remarkable attributes is her ability to lead a team through challenging times. We have a poster in our Emergency Department that reads, Tough times don’t last, but tough teams do. Deana is not only a source of strength in our department, she is also the heart. We are a stronger department due in large part to her leadership. On behalf of the Emergency Department staff, I hope you’ll consider Deana for Nursing Hero Award.
- Margo Wilson Emergency Medicine Eastern Health St. John’s, N
Deana Shea Haines is a true nursing hero. Our emergency department started 2020 with a massive snowstorm that caused a week-long state of emergency in St. John’s, requiring assistance from the Canadian Armed Forces. The ER played an integral role in providing medical care to patients affected by the storm. Deana showed leadership throughout this time, particularly when several hospital staff found themselves enduring 24-hour shifts, and was dedicated to caring for staff, physicians and most importantly the patients who required care. Shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic began we lost one of our young nursing colleagues, who had two young boys, to sudden cardiac death. Deana helped to organize a memorial for our friend and colleague Alison, including paramedicine, nursing, physicians, and her family in the parking lot of our hospital so we could physically distance. Nurses like Deana are rare and need to be celebrated. One example of her exceptional clinical care happened on December 24th this past year. We had a patient who had a second trimester miscarriage. Deana took the time to wrap the fetus in a little blanket so mom could have a photo with the infant. She also made a list of funeral homes for the mom so she could arrange a funeral and burial when she went home. She also helped resuscitate the mom when she had a postpartum hemorrhage that required admission to hospital. She did all this while still keeping an eye on the rest of the department as the nurse in charge and providing continuous care to other patients. We believe Deana Shea-Haines is an exceptional nurse and a true hero to all of us. Her dedication to our emergency department has helped guide us through our darkest hours and we would love to honour her with this award.
- Gillian Sheppard, Dr. Rebecca Bobby, Julie Bartlett RN, Dr. Margo Wilson, Dr. Emma McIlveen Brown and Dr. Sarah Mathieson
