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| Susan Orr,
RN (center with flowers) with her hospital "family". |
Most patients that come in and out of St. Mary’s
Hospital of Blue Springs never see Susan Orr, RN, BSN, St. Mary’s
Hospital’s Employee of the Year. But to those who do see her,
she makes a world of difference.
Susan is a case manager--someone who goes to bat for
patients who may need a little extra help. One moment she may negotiate
with an insurance company to get a longer stay approved, the next
arrange for an interpreter for a patient who needs one.
“We are patient advocates,” says Susan. “We
try to cut through some red tape for them–make sure it’s
safe for them to go home, arrange care in the home when necessary.”
By all accounts, Susan is very good at her job. “Susan
is a teacher, role model and a great leader,” writes a coworker.
“She sets the tone for our entire department.”
The Case Management Department is about half nurses
and half social workers. Susan worked as a floor nurse when she
first got out of school, but says she gets a lot of satisfaction
as a case manager. “I feel like I get to spend more time with
the patient,” she says. “I’m still addressing their
needs and caring for them–but instead of bringing their medications
or tending their physical needs, I’m tending their emotional
needs. There’s a lot of satisfaction in that.”
Susan says her job is sometimes very hard. “It
can be very emotional. I’m not always the bearer of good news.
It’s not easy. But the (Case Management) department is so supportive.
We’re sort of like a family.”
Susan was one of the first employees at St. Mary’s Hospital.
She was there the day the hospital opened in 1981. After three years
as a staff nurse, she moved on to the dialysis unit in the professional
building attached to the hospital. “So it didn’t really
feel like I’d left at all,” she says. She has worked in
Case Management for 13 years.
“It’s really amazing when you think of all the people
who are still here that were here when the doors opened,” says
Susan. “That really says something about the kind of place
St. Mary’s Hospital is. Our mission, the environment we work
in is caring. Not just for patients, but employees as well.”
There has been a lot of change in the years since Susan started
her nursing career at the hospital. “We’ve grown a lot,”
she says. “But we still have that small-town, community feeling.
I hope that never goes away.”
And her feeling about being named Employee of the Year? “Well,
I’m very honored and I was totally surprised. I feel like I
just come in and do my job–just like everyone else here. I
have wonderful coworkers and a great place to work.”
And it looks like she may have started something. Her daughter,
Lindsay, is studying to be a social worker. That may be the highest
honor of all.
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