“In my 18 years of nursing, I have not met a
nurse who eats, drinks, and breathes her
job the way Erin does.”
— Charlotte Sedillos, RN
Blasingame, RN, her assistant who
works in the infusion center several days
a week, adds her own special touch—a
red heart drawn over the infusion site—
as patients complete each treatment.
On a recent day, several “regulars”
arrived and settled into a routine of
chatting and watching TV as Ms. Noel
and Ms. Blasingame methodically
checked their vital signs, started IVs,
or accessed chemotherapy ports.
They also fetched medications from
the hospital pharmacy and doublechecked prescriptions and dosages,
administered the medications, brought
in warm blankets to keep patients
comfortable, and generally kept a close
eye on everyone, all while carrying on a
lively conversation.
Some patients finished their
treatment in an hour or less; others
settled in for two or three hours.
Friends and family stopped by to visit,
sometimes sending a patient’s husband
in search of extra chairs so everyone
could sit.
Ms. Noel shuttled between patients
for the entire day. She has a desk tucked
away in one corner, but she rarely sits
there, at least not during the eight hours
when patients are present. After hours,
she records notes and prepares for the
next day’s patients. It makes for a long
shift, because cancer is a formidable foe.
Ms. Noel became interested in
oncology as a teenager, when her
beloved grandfather died of cancer. A
few years later, she worked as a nurse
technician in an oncology unit and was
hooked. She had more than 15 years
of oncology nursing in a variety of
inpatient and outpatient settings when
she joined the Hillcrest staff in 2011.
“In my 18 years of nursing, I have
not met a nurse who eats, drinks, and
breathes her job the way Erin does,” says
nurse manager Charlotte Sedillos, RN.
“She loves oncology, loves her patients,
and never stops trying to improve the
patient’s experience.”
In addition to managing the
infusion center, Ms. Noel streamlined
Hillcrest’s chemotherapy procedures
and was instrumental in designing
the expanded infusion center in the
new Scott & White Cancer Center Hillcrest, now under construction on
the Hillcrest campus. She also teaches
chemotherapy certification classes
through the Oncology Nursing Society.
All of that is invisible to her
patients, who see their infusion nurse
as a caring and knowledgeable advocate
during what may be the most difficult
experience of their lives. They get a
glimpse of her personality during their
first treatment. She carefully lists all the
potential side effects of their particular
chemotherapy regimen, and then adds,
“But don’t worry—we don’t allow any
of those on days ending with ‘y.’”
Ms. Noel loves seeing patients relax
when they receive that assurance, and she
looks forward to celebrating with them
when they complete chemotherapy.
On a recent day, she spread the word
that a patient was there for his last
chemotherapy session. Nurses from the
oncology unit gathered in Room 1401,
pom-poms in hand. Ms. Blasingame
rang a handbell to commemorate his
accomplishment, and the room erupted
in cheers, hugs, and farewells.
“You’re welcome anytime,” Ms. Noel
told her former patient as he departed.
“Come back to say hi. Just don’t come
back for anything else.” n
Sc o tt & W h i t e ’ s A b o v e a n d B e y o n d A war d
Erin Noel, RN, has twice received the award that recognizes staff
members who go the extra mile in patient care. Most recently, she
was recognized for sparing a patient the anxiety of having to take
an ambulance ride to receive a chemotherapy injection. Ms. Noel
drove 20 minutes to the patient to administer the injection herself.
sw.org | November 12 The Catalyst
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