Skin Care Team Put Patient on the Road to Recovery

When Stephen “Rooster” Lawless (pictured with Toni Tanchuan, Skin Care Supervisor) came to UF Health Flagler Hospital with neck pain six weeks ago, a massive infection was identified as the cause. He was taken to the operating room, a place that Rooster knows well as his late wife, Peggy, worked there for more than 30 years. "When I was in the OR for surgery, one of the nurses saw me and said she used to work with my wife and called me by my nickname, Rooster. Now anytime I go down to the OR, everyone in the operating room knows me as Rooster. I don't know any of the nurses or doctors in the OR, but they all know me, and have made me feel like part of the family," he explained. But the praise didn’t stop there. While Rooster much prefers to be home, he says he has received good care and has had positive interactions with the floor staff and almost everyone he’s come into contact with at UF Health Flagler Hospital.

A critical piece of Rooster’s healing process has been working with the hospital’s Skin Care team for a complex wound dressing. This group of nurses help decrease the risk for infection, reduce pain and increase the body’s ability to heal. Rooster says that he was made to feel extremely comforted by Toni and the entire Skin Care Team.

“Before they changed my dressing, I thought it was going to be really painful, but the whole team made it as painless for me as possible. They finally got a handle on my infection [and] when I go home I'll still need help from home health care… but I know I'll be in good hands."

Toni says the Skin Care Team is fully trained to change complex dressings at the bedside and they do their best to put patients at ease. “It’s scary [for patients] but we work to make the process as quick, painless and efficient as possible.”

While Rooster hasn’t been discharged from the hospital yet, he is recovering very well and has been up and walking around on his own.