(SitNews) Ketchikan, Alaska - Registered Nurse Jen McDonald who works in Home Health at PeaceHealth Ketchikan, is also Alaska’s Top Home Care and Hospice Nurse according to the National Association for Home Care and Hospice (NAHC). McDonald was selected for the annual award from thousands of nominations sent by agencies nationwide.

Registered Nurse Jen McDonald and Marian Doyle.
Photo courtesy PeaceHealth Ketchikan Medical Center

McDonald first came to Ketchikan in 2008 as a travel nurse. “I loved it here from the start and was glad to be able to come back as a regular employee in 2012.” She had always wanted to be nurse, when asked why, she has a ready answer. “You get to be what you want to be when you become a nurse.”

Marian Doyle is one of her patients. She calls Jen “the ideal nurse”. The 91-year old has diabetes and neuropathy in her lower extremities. That means she has had pain in her legs and a lack of feeling in her feet.

McDonald visits Mrs. Doyle twice a week for 45 minute appointments. “But I usually stay at least twice that, ”she laughs, “I enjoy our visits as much as she does.” Home Health nursing doesn’t have the time constraints of a busy hospital floor. “I let the patient take control,” she says, “and hopefully they’ll take my advice as time goes on. This builds trust and leads to a win-win relationship,” said McDonald.

Mrs. Doyle has added several issues to the “win” column. Her weight has gone down since McDonald began working with her. She is eating better and her blood tests are much closer to being in a healthy range.

Since McDonald introduced the use of an anodyne machine, an infrared light therapy device that increases circulation, the pain in Mrs. Doyle’s legs has significantly decreased and she has more feeling in her feet.

The fifty state winners are featured in the Summer 2014 issue of Caring, a NAHC publication.

Source of News & Photograph: 

PeaceHealth Ketchikan Medical Center
www.peacehealth.org/ketchikan

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Stories In The News
Ketchikan, Alaska

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