For Jennifer Anderton, being an Emergency Room nurse is about so much more than tracking vital signs, administering medications, assisting with diagnostic tests, and treating wounds. She has a view of the human condition that few others get to experience. Case in point: One recent shift at CommonSpirit Holy Cross Hospital – West Valley, where she works as a nurse case manager.
A patient, who she had previously helped enroll in hospice, was brought in by an EMS team after a call from family members. More than two dozen family members followed the patient to the hospital, begging that the team save him. It was a chaotic scene while clinicians performed CPR, but to no avail. As the patient passed, the room was filled with sobbing as family members mourned someone they loved deeply. Jennifer tried to help by bringing a sense of calm and order to an emotional scene.
A few minutes later she was in the room next door, where a young man was told he had end-stage cancer and likely had only a couple of weeks to live. His wife stood by and then collapsed in shock. They were refugees who spoke little English. Jennifer did her best to comfort them. The family has no insurance or family here. Jennifer reached out to a hospice organization that is able to provide free care.
Later, an ER physician asked if the family had any plans to capture memories of the man – videos or photos that the child could have when they grow up. Jennifer immediately responded, “I will make it happen. I will make some calls.”
Jennifer went home pretty sad that night. It had been a particularly tough day. She especially reflected on the young couple.
Her daughter, who just had a baby, is about the same age. “It weighed heavy on my mind,” Jennifer said.
She has to put her work day in a metaphorical box when she gets home. “We see a lot of sadness and hard things.”
Jennifer describes herself as a nurturing person – a trait she learned from her dad, who was a pediatric anesthesiologist, and from experience caring for her seven younger siblings. She says her 30 years of experience in various nursing roles has prepared her for what she has encountered during the last year as an ER nurse case manager. She describes her job as connecting dots – helping find resources for patients, many of whom are unhoused, uninsured, or undocumented.
Her goal for the Emergency Department: “This is a safe place to be loved and to be cared for – just like my home.” With more than 70 patients arriving in the ER each day, it’s a tough job, she says. She’s seen co-workers assaulted by patients under the influence of drugs; and other colleagues be submitted to all kinds of verbal abuse. She says she also is witness to all the cracks in community systems. Jennifer tries to fill the holes.
What keeps her going each day? It’s this thought: “I’ll make a difference in someone’s life.”
She points to cabinets behind her desk where she has gloves and coats to give to patients who are being discharged and who she knows have nowhere to go. She says, “that’s a win.” The hospital recently began a partnership with Utah Food Bank and now has bags of five shelf-stable meals it can provide patients who face food insecurity.
Despite all the good she does, with tears in her eyes, she says, “I can’t help them all, and it’s sad.”
“While the word compassion is often used to describe many nurses, Jennifer exemplifies it in ways that are profound and inspiring,” said Laura Malaise, Chief Nursing Officer at Holy Cross Hospital – West Valley. “Our ED team and our patients are blessed daily by this amazing woman.”
