Every day in America, nurses and allied health professionals make a difference in the lives of patients and help the facilities and communities in which they serve. Especially in these most challenging times, their stories deserve to be told. Medical Solutions is proud to offer the “Called to Care” series, to shine a positive light where it belongs. Today, we meet Shelby Mitchell and hear her story of thankfulness.
Shelby Mitchell is a travel surgical technologist with Medical Solutions. She recognizes that working in the operating room has unique challenges but also understands how the rewards outweigh those challenges. She shared this touching example from her important work.
“I was in a procedure with a patient that fractured his mandible and couldn’t talk,” she said. “We rolled him into the operating room getting him ready for surgery and he made the hand motion that he wanted to write something down. So, I gave him a pen and paper. And on the paper, he wrote ‘Thank you all so much.’”
“I have kept that piece of paper for years now,” she shared. “It gives me a daily reminder of how much a procedure can help a patient and how much it means to them.”
Shelby understands that what she sees with a patient is just a small part of the whole. “We never know what the patient is dealing with outside of the hospital. But just being a smiling face to them while they are facing a possible hardship … it could be the only smile they get.”
This is one in a series of “Called to Care” stories celebrating nurses and allied health professionals. If you’re a traveling healthcare professional with Medical Solutions and want to share a story of how you impacted a patient, facility, or community, contact your Medical Solutions recruiter or send an email with your story.