Ornella Puente, RN, is our next clinical HealthTrust Hero!
Ornella earned her HealthTrust Hero status through her work in the ICU at Tampa Community Hospital in West Florida. While there, she has shown an undeniable commitment to helping her patients and their families during the most difficult of times.
Below is one example of her unyielding compassion to help those in need, as told her in HealthTrust Hero nomination:
“This morning a patient in the ICU passed away. The patient had been on a ventilator but his condition worsened and it became apparent that he was dying. The family was called and arrived; it was the patient’s wife’s profound wish that the patient have last rites before he passed. The ICU staff called a priest but one was not found until around 8 am; he said he would get here as quickly as possible, but he was stuck in traffic.
To honor the wife’s wishes, our Hero along with the hospital’s staff kept the patient alive by using a manual resuscitator for approximately four hours until a priest could arrive. This incredibly physical maneuver left the team exhausted, but played a vital role in providing the patient’s family with closure.
The compassion and caring were amazing and humbling to see. The patient’s wife and children, as well as the patient’s father and brother, for the rest of their lives will have a good memory of this patient’s passing.
This HealthTrust Hero went above and beyond for this family, and she fit seamlessly on the hospital’s core team during a physically and emotionally exhausting experience. I can only hope that everyone has a team like this when they have a family member in need.”
We are honored to have Ornella on our team and present her with the distinction of HealthTrust Hero! She is pictured (left) with Director of Clinical Operations Linda Dailey.
