Profile: Meet Carrol Morris, Registered Practical Nurse

In honour of National Nursing Week (May 10-16, 2010), we would like to share with you a profile of just some of the many wonderful nurses at Saint Elizabeth Health Care.

National Nursing Week is an opportunity to celebrate Canadian nurses for their provision of outstanding patient-centered care and dedication to advancing the health system. This year’s theme – Nursing: You Can’t Live Without It! – reflects the immense value of Canada’s largest group of health care providers.

Name: Carrol Morris
Title: Registered Practical Nurse, Saint Elizabeth Health Care, Durham

How did you get into nursing?
My first choice was actually not to be a nurse, but to be a teacher. Then I was given the opportunity in 1974 to be a Personal Support Worker, and I decided in 1979 to go back to school to be an RPN.

What is your favourite part of your job?
To see the clients get better and to see them discharged and go back to their normal life -- to help them get back to full health.

How many years have you been at Saint Elizabeth Health Care (SEHC)?
For over 17 years. I started in September, 1992.

What do you like most about working at SEHC?
I love the flexibility to be able give the extra time to someone if they have a need to talk – which happens quite a lot. To help them solve any kind of issues that they have, answer questions, and listen to them without always having to rush off. I like the flexibility for myself too, I can start earlier or later depending on the clients and what I need to do.

At the heart of health care is the client/patient experience. What stories and examples do you have of the 'best' client experience?
One lady lived alone in a bachelors’ apartment, and she never wanted to leave her bed. If she could, she would stay in bed all day. She was diabetic, and we were sent there to teach her how to monitor her blood sugar and to use insulin. She was interested but she couldn’t do it. She cried to several different nurses. I was the nursing care manager and the nurses would call me, upset. I was determined that she would learn, and I told them that we have to keep on teaching her.

For about 6 months we helped her. She did learn how, and was very proud of herself. She had more confidence and started moving around more in her apartment. She had some family who weren’t too involved with her, but she liked to talk, and we could be there for her. I often think about her. I knew she could learn, and she did.

Another lady, who has now passed away, was very sick. She had 16 children, and she became diabetic. She had very bad ulcers on almost all of her toes. Her doctor had almost given up on her. She couldn’t walk, and she was very depressed. Her doctor had told her that they would need to amputate her leg. At one point she told me that she would rather die than have her leg cut off.

I sat down with her daughter and talked for quite some time. She didn’t want her to lose her leg, and she was spending all her nights sleeping there so that she could get her to the bathroom. This lady was very weak, she didn’t eat very much and her blood pressure and blood sugar were very low. I remember that she said one time that when she in Italy, her mom didn’t. The daughter was so attached to her mom, but her own marriage was going down because she spent all of her time with her mom. I encouraged them, and said I would try my best.

After about 2 1/2 years this lady was transformed – she started walking, and climbing the stairs from her basement up to her bedroom! She was eating, her blood pressure was good, and she was taken off her pills. This was a new lady – she was smiling, and we had never seen her smile.

Her family doctor took her around the office to meet all the doctors. He asked her daughter, “What did you do?” I spent a lot of extra time, including my own time, talking with them, encouraging her and redressing her wounds, telling her that she would heal. And they all healed. It was so beautiful to see this lady get better and walk.

What is something most of your colleagues do not know about you?
I’m in my church choir and I play the drums. I’m a counselor working with young people in  the Pathfinder clubs, which is like Scouts.

What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?
I like to write, to read, go for walks, bird watching, and I love flowers.

What is one of your greatest accomplishments while working at Saint Elizabeth Health Care?
Using a computer was my biggest accomplishment for this year. I didn’t know how to before, and I was scared to. My husband and my daughter decided to help me, especially with SEHC Going Green campaign and needing to access my email. Now I can go on a computer and get to my work. I was so scared of the computer before. I still have a long way to go, but I’m learning.

Thanks to Carrol Morris, RPN, for participating!

Read more profiles:
Erin Carter, Registered Nurse
Stacey Van Schyndel, Registered Practical Nurse

What is your most memorable nursing experience, either as a nurse or a patient/client? There are many ways to share your story –

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