Lotus Award honoree Raven Alston is front row center with as members of the PCA Response Domain Committee, nurses from ICU and nursing leadership including CNO Darla Harmer, shown second from right, during the surprise award celebration held June 9th at MMC.
Long Branch, NJ, June 21, 2022 – A Monmouth Medical Center (MMC) Intensive Care Unit Patient Care Associate (PCA) praised for her extraordinary compassion and commitment to the hospital’s most critical patients as well as her colleagues has been honored with an excellence in caring award.
Raven Alston, a PCA in the ICU, was recently honored with the Lotus Award, which was created to honor a PCA, Patient Care Technician or Mental Health Associate that has provided extraordinary, compassionate, patient/family-centered care. In nominating Raven, her ICU colleagues praised her uplifting personality that brightens the spirts of patients and co-workers alike. Noting that she radiates positivity, they also pointed to her role as head of the unit’s “fun committee.”
In nominating Raven, they wrote:
Raven Alston is one of our PCAs in the ICU, and is considered the most fun to work with by her peers. She is very uplifting and brightens the spirits of our patients and her co-workers. She spends a lot of her time with the patients, rendering care that helps them to feel better. It is not out of the ordinary to find her spending additional time at the patient’s bedside washing their hair, or just talking with them so they are not so lonely. During Covid, Raven spent time with every patient on the unit, and initiated a FaceTime call with family without being directed to do so. She would remain in the room after care was completed to make sure everything was just right and to her standards. She is very particular about the care she gives her patients, and has good instincts to know just what each patient needs. Raven radiates positivity, and has been a reason why the nurses she works with were able to endure the pandemic. She knows when someone is having a bad day and does all she can to help build up their self-esteem. Whether it be a pep talk, advice, or sharing a joke she is there for everyone and makes you feel better. I truly appreciate her humor, and optimism. Raven is an integral part of our ICU team. She is flexible and willing to help, but what she does best is lift our spirits by bringing joy and laughter to our work day.
Raven is in charge of our fun committee. She plans team-building activities for the staff that help to relieve stress. It is important that everyone in health care takes time for self-care, now more than ever. The events help us to get to know each other better and to relieve stress. In Raven’s personal life, she is a soccer coach, which helps her to be a great team player and motivator. Raven is usually the first one to sign up to volunteer for walks for various organizations that the ICU is involved in. She goes the extra mile in everything she does, and I am proud to have her on our ICU team. She is also our ICU employee of the month for May 2022, which is fitting as spring represents a time of hope and renewal. Raven’s positivity is a shining light we need in our ICU.”
The Lotus Award is a new quarterly recognition program at MMC, with Raven being the fourth recipient. Lotus Award nominees’ names are all blinded and the nominations go through the hospital’s Patient Care Coordinating Council, which includes staff from Administration, Nursing Leadership and the Chairs of MMC’s Shared Governance Councils.
CONTACT: Kathy Horan
(732) 546-6317
Kathy.Horan@rwjbh.org