SPECIAL HONORS: Patient Advocate
Nicole Jones, patient advocate at Retreat Doctors’ Hospital (Photo by Jay Paul)
When surgical anxiety strikes — whether it’s the patient or their family — Nicole Jones is the one the team at Retreat Doctors’ Hospital sends to the bedside.
“I’ve been working with Nicole for 10 years. She is the patient [advocate], but she’s really the compassion and spiritual navigator,” says Cary Gentry, a physician with Colon & Rectal Specialists of Richmond.
Her duties as a nurse navigator include educating colon surgery patients on their procedures and meeting with their families. She also prays with those who accept her invitation before they enter surgery. “I have found that prayer is very important,” she says. “If you offer prayer, they know you care. They’re very appreciative.”
Jones believes the first step to creating a calm patient is to comfort the spirit. “It’s an honor to be with a patient during a time of anxiety, uncertainty and fear. To be with them and explain procedures to them, and to speak to their families and answer any questions. And to make sure their needs are met in the hospital and after their discharge,” says Jones, who also makes follow-up calls to the patients at home after their procedures.
Lauren Anderson, 29, of North Chesterfield, says she found comfort in the compassion, care and spiritual support she received from Jones when she was having surgery seven years ago to remove a tumor from her colon. “Nicole did mental health counseling for me prior to my surgery, and she answered a lot of questions for me,” says Anderson. She noted that Jones helped her and her parents to feel at ease about her colorectal surgery. “She would pray and let us know we were not alone.”
After surgery, Jones visited Anderson to make sure she was still feeling comfortable, and when Anderson was discharged, Jones continued to follow up.
“As soon as I came home, she checked in with me at home the first week, then as time went on it was more periodic, and now it’s just on a yearly basis,”says Anderson.
Jones earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Medical College of Virginia, where she was inducted into Sigma Theta Tau International Nursing Honor Society. From there, she graduated with high honors in psychiatric mental health nursing from the University of Virginia. In 2014, she and Gentry won the HCA Frist Humanitarian Award for excellent patient care and contributions outside of the hospital.
“About 75 percent of the patients are nervous about their surgery or anxious about their procedure,” says Gentry, “but she will pray with them and listen to them. She really embodies the type of caregiver you want in the hospital.”
