The hospital pays tribute to Concha Fernández, supervisor of the Cardiovascular Area, on the occasion of her retirement, with a surprise act 33 years after her arrival at the center
It has been an “overwhelming” week for Concha Fernández, one of those proper names that from discretion grease the engines of human capital that moves the Virgen de La Arrixaca hospital, where she has worked 33 years of her life, 31 of them as a supervisor, first of the Cardiology Service and later also the Cardiovascular Area, a position he held until this Wednesday.
On the occasion of his retirement, his colleagues wanted to offer him an affectionate farewell that has lasted for several days full of surprises that have made him feel “overwhelmed” and that crystallized last Tuesday in a tribute in a packed assembly hall where he was waiting for him « the entire service”, as well as the management and direction. «They took me deceived, they went to look for me at the office and told me ‘let’s go to the address’, and since they had been doing things to me all week, some surprise was waiting for me, but when I entered it was incredible. They had come to my husband and my children».
In the tribute, the head of the Cardiovascular Surgery service, Sergio Cánovas, highlighted Concha’s professional “excellence”, her “leadership” and “her ability to work”. “Throughout my professional life I have been fortunate to visit more than 150 hospitals,” he noted. “In none have I met a health professional of your stature.”
Hearts flooded the room to fire the supervisor. /
One of those “things” that made Concha’s week happy happened a few days ago, when she arrived at her floor at 5:30 in the morning, like every day, and the entire floor was “full of hearts, even the office.” When he opened the door there were “fifty or sixty balloons” there, also heart-shaped. “It was a scandal. I have always liked to go unnoticed, I never leave the plant and these days everyone has been taking pictures with me. I am super grateful.” The signs of affection from her have been so numerous that the battery of her mobile phone has not been able to withstand a single day without an emergency recharge due to the avalanche of messages.
Concha has seen several Nursing departments pass by, various management and medical departments and, one after another, they have been renewing their trust in her. Those who have worked with this woman from León, who arrived in Murcia in 1989, define her as a woman of tireless drive, hardworking and, above all, committed to the patient above all else.
A “huge” evolution
In the more than 33 years of profession that she has spent in La Arrixaca, the nurse claims to have seen “enormous changes”. «When I arrived at the Cardiology floor it was a reduced service, we had a lot of time, it was like a house. We have been growing and growing and now I am leaving a macro-service with a powerful Hemodynamics, a huge Arrhythmias service, the ‘echocardios’ grown; We have created a heart failure consultation with an expert nurse case manager, a cardiac rehabilitation consultation with another nurse, we have an Intermediate Cardiology Unit service that was a very important challenge, that has cost us a lot, but that we have pulled through; the Cardiac Surgery service has also grown tremendously, where four daily extracorporeal procedures are performed, when before two were performed; We have an early discharge clinic that provides incredible service to patients. Before they could spend between 7 and 10 days hospitalized, and now between the third and fourth day most patients go home. I have been calling them personally for seven years at 24 and 48 hours and the patients have greatly appreciated it », she emphasizes.
The recognition of these days has served, as he acknowledges, to cushion the change in his first days without going to work. “I came home super strong,” she says. She doesn’t intend to stand still either. She continues to work on the website of the Spanish Association of Nursing in Cardiology, where she was president for five years, and she already has a project in mind: “Make a cardiovascular surgery manual for nurses.” “It’s just that the day is very long,” she says.