The Ohio Nurses Foundation named Cassie Baughman, LPN, CHPLN, a nurse with Ohio’s Hospice of Dayton Crisis Care, one of the 100 Great Ohio Nurses.

Cassie was nominated for her dedication to nursing and her commitment to patient advocacy. She collaborates with the patient’s family and the interdisciplinary team to provide optimal end-of-life care and comfort.

Her servant heart, honesty, communication, compassion and presence provide comfort to her patients and their families. She has a strong passion for helping people. She chose to become a nurse after she realized that her heart was leading her in a direction to be of service to others. She specifically chose to become a hospice nurse.

“Hospice nursing provides the best forum to combine my strengths of benevolence and clinical nursing,” said Cassie, who also was named CHPLN Nurse of the Year for 2019 this past spring by the Hospice and Palliative Certification Center (HPCC). “The greatest reward for myself as a nurse is the privilege of providing optimal patient advocacy and family support.”

She considers it an incredible honor and responsibility to be the primary caregiver for a patient who is transitioning toward death and needs care and comfort. “A peaceful, comfortable and dignified death for my patient, as well as solace for the family, are the ultimate blessings for me as a hospice bedside nurse,” she said.

For Cassie, patient advocacy encompasses every aspect of providing ultimate care for the patient. This includes both pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical interventions for patient comfort. As a crisis care team leader, she collaborates with the interdisciplinary team and follows the plan of care, providing strong support to the family.

“Optimal end-of-life care is achieved through coordinating patient care utilizing communication with the patient’s care team to provide ultimate physical, emotional and spiritual care to both the patient and the family,” Cassie said. “This includes continued and consistent evaluation, monitoring, symptom management and documentation.”

Cassie also serves as a resource to her teammates, providing continuous education and leadership to them. She serves as a preceptor for new nurses and has developed study groups and tutoring sessions for members of the nursing team who are pursuing their HPCC certification.

“I am honored to be an educator as well as a nurse, not only to my patients and their families, but also to my teammates,” she said. “I am thrilled to be able to provide leadership and support to my teammates through availability and approachability as both a source of education and a trustworthy professional colleague.”

Cassie was recognized in the April 2019 issue of Ohio Nurse, a quarterly publication of the Ohio Nurses Foundation. She is featured on Page 4.