Teri Fouts
Teri Fouts 2007 Recipient
Teri Fouts
Teri Fouts, RN
Manager Infusion Center
Littleton Adventist Hospital
Teri describes "bedside nursing" as her calling and her passion. Her experiences in a Medical/Surgical Unit, ICU, ER, Hyperbarics, home infusion and Hospice have led her to her perfect place and that is in the Outpatient Infusion Center. She is responsible for the daily operations, planning, scheduling of patients and clinical care of her patients. Since many of her patients are recurring she has the opportunity to develop close relationships with the patients and his/her family/support system. Her clinical skills consist of IV therapies including chemotherapy, transfusions, antibiotics, post transplant drugs and any education needed. Teri exemplifies service to her patients. Compliments are routinely received about her compassionate care. She recently received the Spirit of Excellence Award for service where several of her patients and their families were present to celebrate this honor with her. Teri treats her patients as through they are family, going out of her way to keep them comfortable and safe. Teri gives back to her community by volunteering for health fairs and flu vaccinations - always exemplifying service.
"It's the best job. I've found my niche. It has allowed me to use my critical care skills...The skills that I learned in critical care have allowed me to do this job and I love this job! It's the best of all worlds. And I'll be here until I retire hopefully... I have actually had patients that I have taken care of every week for 12 or 13 years. They are my family... I would do anything for them. I love the intimacy that's here. I love being involved. I love taking care of cancer patients. Their strength makes me stronger. The things that they go through make me stronger." ~ Teri on nursing in the Infusion Center
"I have a handful of patients that have died and who are constantly with me. When I cared for them, prior to their death, it was very healing to me in the sense that they helped me as much as I helped them. They inspired me to be a better nurse. If I'm having a rough day I bring this handful of people to my mind and what we shared. It is always a positive thing and it reminds me why I am a nurse. Why I keep going. How they inspired me to be better." ~ Teri on how her patients have contributed to her career in nursing
"When you think of Florence Nightingale, you think of compassion, caring, her holding a wounded soldier and comforting. That was always an inspiration to me when I went to nursing school. That's the kind of nurse I've always strived to be...Winning the award was just a shock. You stand up there, and you hear about your peers, and you realize you are six out of 50,000 nurses and you are getting this award. You think "Oh My Gosh!" It is overwhelming. It's an honor. It's humbling. It's the epitome of my career. The people who wrote stuff for me and to me. I go back and read some of that and I start crying and I think "Wow!" It's not just nurses. I had physicians write things. My daughter wrote something. It was my patients that submitted stuff and my administrative staff. It's your "people". It's your family of professionals AND your family. I don't' see myself the way they do. I read it and it is overwhelming!" ~ Teri on being a Nightingale Recipient
