Jason Clancy, RN, is a clinical coordinator at Akron Children’s Urgent Care, Boston Heights.
Every day at Akron Children’s, we strive to deliver compassionate care and create positive experiences for our patients and families. This month, we’re spotlighting Jason Clancy, RN, a clinical coordinator at Akron Children’s Urgent Care, Boston Heights, who received the following feedback from a patient family after a recent visit for sutures.
“I would like to applaud Jason (Clancy), a nurse at Boston Height Urgent care. Last night our son had a head injury and was in need of stitches. He was terrified. Jason scooped us from the waiting room and brought a calming presence instantly. He did a tremendous job on his stitches and was calm, kind and included our son in a way to ease his fears. The world needs more Jason’s. Akron Children’s should make an extreme effort to award his service and note Jason’s tremendous abilities.”
How long have you worked at Akron Children’s, and what’s your role?
I’ve been with Akron Children’s for about 12 years. I’m the clinical coordinator at Akron Children’s Urgent Care, Boston Heights. About 80 percent of my role is clinical bedside nursing and the other 20 percent is administrative, like scheduling and managing supplies.
Reflecting on this patient experience and the feedback you received, how do you feel about it?
That’s the best outcome we want. No one ever wants to get stitches, but it’s important that we make it so the patient is as comfortable as possible. This could have easily been a really negative experience for the patient, but it ended up being a good experience all around.
How do you build that level of trust with your patients to put them at ease?
When their child is bleeding, turning down the anxiety in the room for a family is a real challenge. It starts from the moment you walk in the door. You have to be confident and reassure the patient that everything is ok. We can fix this, and they’re going to be fine.
What does patient- and family-centered care mean to you? How do you strive to deliver that care?
At the heart of patient- and family-centered care is that the family and patient are inseparable as a unit. You can’t just treat the patient. You also need to treat the family. Parents can be your greatest asset in helping the patient. We rely on them to do so much of the work, especially once they leave our facility. But in that room and in that moment when you’re treating a patient, the parents are the most important resource. That’s a relationship that needs to be built quickly.
What do you most enjoy about your work at Akron Children’s?
I’m convinced that I have the best job in the hospital. We take these kids in, while they’re scared and bleeding. But once we get their wound care done and they go home, we know they’re going to get better. Their wounds will heal because of the work we did. It’s so rewarding to think that at age 6, if they need stitches, they might not be happy right now, but at age 16, they’ll take prom pictures with that same face we fixed. There are very few programs in the U.S. like the one we have for wound care at Akron Children’s, where nurses, suture technicians and non-physician personnel can provide wound care. It’s such a treasure and an amazing program for this hospital and our patients.
