GARY – Cathy Dufresne, an emergency room nurse at Methodist Hospital in Gary, has received the hospital’s Spirit Award for going beyond the call of duty in order to help patients in need of clothing.
Diane Schultz, emergency room manager, said she was surprised when Dufresne said the department needed a washer and dryer. Schultz said that was when she found out Dufresne had been taking homeless patients’ clothes home and washing them so they could have something clean and dry to wear when they left the hospital.
“You give every patient respect, dignity and compassion regardless of who they are. I don’t think you realize how many lives you touch with what you do,” said Schultz. “It is one thing to be a nurse and have all of the clinical skills necessary to do the job, but it is another to have the passion you have for the nursing profession.”
