One thing that nurses take pride in is going the extra mile for their patients, whether that is going out of their way to get a food item that they like, or staying beyond work hours so that the patients do not feel alone. Today we tell the story of Jody Stubbs, who went above and beyond her call of duty to make sure that one of her patients had the chance to see his daughter get married before he passed away.
Jody (41) is a Senior Sister on AMUA at Sandwell Hospital and celebrated her 20th anniversary with Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust in September and has been in her current role for 18 months.
“After I qualified, I worked very briefly on Priory 2 at Sandwell Hospital and then spent 17 years in the A&E department” said Jody.
“I definitely prefer that side of nursing.
“I am happy in my current role; there is enough nursing being a Senior Sister day-to-day to keep me going.”
In May, Barry Atkins was told by doctors that he would not have long to live and was going to miss his daughter get married. That was until both his family and members of staff on the ward made sure that he had the chance to take his daughter down the aisle.
“It was identified by one of the nurses, Dawn Bakewell, who had been talking to the daughter about her wedding and was present when her father was told that he was not going to live much longer.
“Plans needed to be made to help the wedding go ahead and Alex Abbott got the ball rolling by contacting the vicar to see if there was anything we could do, made a couple more phone calls and we took it from there.”
Even though the event was planned with very short notice, everybody who attended was very impressed with the job that everybody had done to make it happen.
The beautiful ceremony was performed on the ward and Jody was very proud of her staff for going the extra mile to ensure that a dying man gets his wish of seeing his daughter, Sarah, marry the man she loves.
“It was brilliant, absolutely brilliant.
“The first time we knew about it was on the morning of the wedding as we hadn’t realised how quickly it had been organised. The family only received the permission to get married 30 minutes before the ceremony.
“We did not realise that the guests would come fully dressed up which made it hit us that it was really going to happen.”
Jody, who lives in Great Bridge with her husband and three kids, started nursing very young, but, she was close to taking on a different career.
“I kind of fell into nursing at the requirement of 17 and a half, I used to constantly switch between the idea of being a nurse and being a police officer.
“I then realised that I wouldn’t have been a very good police officer as I would have been too quiet.”
Although she wanted to be a police officer at one stage of her life, she has not carried a stern approach into her care and she does not believe that it is the best method.
“I have a very fair approach to nursing as I believe that everybody should be treated the same and be given the same opportunities.
“I relate this to my children, that have now grown up, they have been taught that everything should be equal, fair and everyone should be treated the same.”
Having only been in her job for 18 months, Jody has made a positive change to how the ward is run and staff morale is on a high at this time.
Jody’s matron Emma Jewiss has noticed the positive influence Jody has had on the staff on AMUA and is glad to have had the chance to have created a team with her.
“Since she joined us 18 months ago, she has done a fantastic job of turning the ward around and making staff feel valued, which helps them to reach their full potential by offering them the training and support they deserve” said Emma.
“We have worked well together since she has got here as it had been a long time since I had a Ward Manager working under me on AMUA which I believe is very rare, it is not often that you get this good a relationship between a Matron and a Senior Sister.”
Being happy in your role and having a kind heart will help you in your career and going the extra mile will fill you with a sense of satisfaction that you have gone above and beyond to give a person who is going through one of the toughest moments of their life some time away from it.
Jody and her team did a great thing for a patient that day, but it is just one time that they go out of their way to help people and they are not the only people in the trust who do this.
Plenty of people in healthcare all over the world are helping patients and families every day and do not get the appreciation that they deserve. So if you ever come across this generosity, make sure you let those who help us when we are at our weakest know how much they are appreciated.
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