An Interview with Beverly Hughes

Remember during the last interview with Dr. Rice how I was telling you about the exceptional staff at Methodist Hospital?  Well, I am so happy to have one of these amazing staff members here on the blog today!  Beverly Hughes is the head nurse on the 8th Floor of the Main Building at Methodist Hospital.  While I appreciated all of the care we received at all of the different parts of Methodist (mom had a pacemaker and was in the world renowned DeBakey Heart & Vascular Center, as well as a couple of ICU units during her illness, some ER visits, etc), we were always relieved to be headed back home.  And our home in Methodist was the 8th Floor of the Main Building.  They were so compassionate and caring, and really, really good at what they did.  To be quite honest, my mom was not an easy patient.  For those of you who didn't know her, lets just say she could be a little particular.  She likes things the way she liked them.  Those nurses, and staff had their work cut out for them.  HA!  And they rose to the challenge, exceeding above and beyond their job description 100% of the time.

Nursing is such an important job.  In fact, my mom was a nurse, and coincidentally her first job was at Methodist.  She took so much pride in her career.  She worked in labor and delivery and was always so happy to point out around town all of the babies (usually full grown adults at this point) who she helped deliver.  But back to nursing.  They not only have to have such a wealth of knowledge to be able to assist and coordinate in patient care, but they also have to be able to provide emotional support for their doctor's patients.  Their contribution to the patient's overall recovery is immeasurable and often overlooked.  I sure did mean to get this post together and out in honor of Nurses Day on May 12th, but alas I got lost in the pre-bowling party craze and I missed it.  But please do not wait for next May 12th to roll around to thank the nurses in your life for committing their lives to help make others' lives better!

So as I get off my soapbox, I introduce to you Beverly Hughes...

Katie:  Tell me a little about yourself? 
Beverly:  I am an Oncology Nurse Specialist at HMH and I work with hematology and oncology patients on 8NW and inpatient Bone Marrow Transplantation. I have been a Heme/Onc nurse forever [since 1972].

Katie: What is your job? 

Beverly:  I provide patient education for hematology and oncology patients; I am also responsible for educating nurses on the administration of chemotherapy, informing/educating the staff about new drugs approved by the FDA, new procedures, equipment, etc.

Katie: Why did you become a nurse? 

Beverly:  When I was in high school here in Houston, I was a Volunteer Nurse’s Aide at Texas Children’s Hospital – I volunteered every weekend for about 2 years – that is when I decided to be a nurse [rather than a marine biologist!].

Katie:  How did you find your way to Methodist Main 8? 

Beverly:  I have worked with the nursing staff for the past 27 years – I have enjoyed/enjoy working with Dr. Rice and all of the Hematology staff as well as the Oncologists who practice at HMH.

Katie:  What keeps you coming back to work each day? 

Beverly:  I enjoy working directly with patients every day – patients and families are the best part of my day. I remember your Mother while she was on 8NW and I remember meeting you sister who is a pediatrician.

Katie:  What makes your staff so special? 

Beverly:  Compassion comes to mind first; trying to make patient and their families/friends as comfortable as possible while going through treatment.

Beverly also mentioned in our email exchanges that she does her own work fundraising for LLS (not sure how she has the time or energy)!  She has participated and/or worked at the LLS Light the Night walk for the past 2 years with a team from Methodist, and they have plans to do it again this year!  In fact, I organized a team to walk in the 2014 event just a few short weeks before mom passed away and I learned about it from the flyers her team had posted around the hospital.  The Ginger's Army team raised around $6,000 for LLS and had over 30 people walking with us that night!  It is a really special event.  It takes place at night and there are lanterns that they pass out in different colors, white for survivors, red for patients, and yellow to honor those that have lost their fight.  The sky becomes illuminated with the glowing of lanterns.   Its moving, encouraging, and emotional as you are literally taking steps toward a cure for these blood cancers!  This year's Houston Light the Night walk takes place on October 8th!  Good work to Beverly and the Methodist team for donating their time, energy, and money to this wonderful event.  And thank you Beverly for sharing your story!

Thanks for visiting again and checking out another interview!  I really have loved doing these for you during this campaign and hope you have enjoyed them too!  But don't worry, there is still more to come.  I am going to try to squeeze in some more before the June 3rd deadline which is quickly approaching.  Which brings me to my friendly donation reminder!  Only 10 short days to make your vote count (hint: DONATE HERE) towards research, patient well being, and a cure!!  Thanks friends!  I'll be back soon!!