04/05/17  Portland, Ore.

L to R: Brian Nickerson, M.S.W, David Casey, and Kelly Shaffer, M.D. each accept their ROSE Awards.

In March, several OHSU Family Medicine team members received ROSE awards for their above-and-beyond work to care for our patients.

David Casey and Brian Nickerson at Scappoose

Submitted by Aaron Winder, R.N.

David is a fantastic Social Worker and addiction counselor; we have been working closely together in our new Medication-Assisted Treatment program. As an RN who is new to this field, I have found David's expertise invaluable to my development in this role. Brian is a student of social work with us, and this is his first clinical experience.

One of Brian's tasks was to call some of our patients who are in our Medication-Assisted Treatment program who have opiate addictions, and offer them behavioral health support. He quickly developed a therapeutic relationship over the phone with a young woman who was living in an isolated, abusive relationship. She and Brian spoke for a few weeks, with her increasingly confiding in him. Her abuser often wouldn't allow her to come to appointments alone, so these phone calls were invaluable. Our team saw an opportunity to intervene with a plan for her to get out of the relationship, were she willing to take it. Brian was instrumental in this process and his hours of phone conversations with her likely helped her to become ready to take this opportunity. Their work may have saved her life.

David's work on the team was pivotal in helping to develop a safe game plan to offer her. Her abuser always came to appointments and often demanded to be in the room with her. He stayed out in the lobby that night while David and Dr. Becca Cantone offered her the plan. By this time, she wanted out of the abusive relationship, but was understandably scared. David spent a lot of time with her that night, and in the weeks leading up to it, and she became empowered to leave her situation. We had the police involved and were able to get her into a domestic violence shelter on very short notice that night. She is now safely living out of state and, from what I hear, doing quite well working hard on recovery from domestic violence and addiction.

Kelly Shaffer, M.D. at South Waterfront

Submitted by Anthony Cheng, M.D

We had a patient we were caring for on the medical surgical unit, who had a history of trauma and substance use disorder. She had a change in mental status and there was a rapid response called. The room was filled with health care providers and the patient was very scared. We needed to obtain a head CT scan, but the patient had previously not been able to tolerate neuroimaging due to anxiety. During all this chaos, the patient specifically asked for Dr. Shaffer, who came to the bedside and held her hand while also guiding the assessment. The patient was calmed by her presence and was able to have the head CT scan done—but not without Dr. Shaffer donning a lead apron and accompanying her into the CT scanner. Dr. Shaffer showed immense compassion and a high degree of personal responsibility.