Memories of Jordan
For most health care workers, treating patients who suffer such violent injures
may be a once in a year, or even once in a career experience. But after a
decade with the Trauma Center there is a core group of highly experienced
professionals who relish the daily task of bringing these patients back from
the brink. As Morris says, the location of 10 North may comprise the bricks and
mortar, but the team of 16 physicians, 108 nurses and 42 staff make up the
Trauma Center’s heart and soul.
With their all-black scrubs and T-shirts which say “The Good Guys Wear Black” the staff of the Trauma Center is a breed apart. In ways that challenges and
frequent stress can drive people apart, it can also bring them closer together.
The veterans of the Trauma Center are a deeply committed group.
Shannon Godby, R.N., CCRN, has been taking care of trauma patients since 1995.
She was there the day the Trauma Center opened in 1998 and is now a charge
nurse with the unit.
“It’s been really nice to have our own space,” she said. “We’ve outgrown it now, but because of this space we’ve been able to do better for the public, to be able to take care of more
patients, and take care of them better with the technology and resources.”
“This can be a hard place to work for some people. We have a high turnover rate
for staff, even though we have a lot of people who have stayed a long time. It’s a hard balance to maintain because of what can be an overwhelming volume of
patients. But we’ve been good about finding that balance. I’ve stayed because of the teamwork, the camaraderie, the way we work together. We’re a family and that’s what keeps me here.”
Godby notes the care of trauma patients has changed significantly over the
decade. “The way we take care of patients has gone with the technology and gone with the
statistics. We’ve changed a lot of our practices based upon those things we have found in the
past about what works and what doesn’t,” she said.
Among the tens of thousands of patients treated, the Trauma Unit staff has
patients from over the past decade who stand out. For Godby the one that stands
out is a young man named Jordan, a 17-year-old who was critically injured in a
car wreck with some friends.
“He wound up being here for about six weeks. His family and I bonded. Jordan was
the same age as my son and his mother and I are the same age,” she said. “It was a long struggle with lots of ups and downs, but Jordan died. I am still
in contact with his family and will forever be connected with them. He will
forever stand out. ”
Jordan was dying. But Godby and the staff was able to help the family by
performing dialysis and by reducing some of Jordan’s medications so that his mind was clearer and he was able to communicate with
his family during his last week. “His family, even to this day, has thanked us for giving them a little bit more
time to be with him, interact with him, and say goodbye,” she said.
