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Blue Devil of the Week: Putting the Patient Care Puzzle Together

Faryl Podolle reflects on a 31-year nursing career

Faryl Podolle has spent her entire career at Duke University Hospital.
Faryl Podolle has spent her entire career at Duke University Hospital.

Name: Faryl Podolle

Position: Clinical Nurse IV at Duke University Hospital

Years at Duke: 31

What she does at Duke: As a nurse for Duke University Hospital, Faryl can never be sure about what her day is going to bring. Her patients can be anyone who’s admitted to the hospital for organ transplants, heart failure, sickle cell anemia, live and kidney transplants, cancer, heart failure and pneumonia.  

Because it’s a wide range of patient care, Faryl tries to learn about each patient. She talks to them and learns about their families, history and hobbies to help better individualize their care. This helps them relax and builds a relationship of trust.

“You never know what you’re going to get,” she said. “As a nurse, my purpose is to create an experience of nurturing and caring for my patients and their families during their hospital stay. I look at it like a puzzle. My job is to assist with putting all the pieces together.”

What she loves about Duke: In her 31 years at Duke, Faryl has learned from and mentored the 48 other nurses she works with. She recalls being with a new nurse about five years ago with a patient in comfort care, when someone can no longer benefit from active treatment and the focus is on relieving symptoms and optimizing comfort

“It was such a tender moment between patient and family, and no matter how many times you witness this, it never changes,” Faryl said. “I was sitting there in tears and my brand-new nurse was in tears. The family began hugging us and saying, ‘thank you,’ and we both became amused thinking who was comforting who.”

Faryl said the nurse she worked with later came to her and said, “I hope will be as good a nurse as you someday.”

“This is just one example, during my many years at Duke that confirms the difference a nurse can make in the lives of the patients, families and their team,” Faryl said.

Faryl with her fellow nurses at Duke University Hospital. A memorable day of work: Every day a patient, family or coworker says, “thank you,” Faryl said.

“It renews the realization I am where I need to be and doing what I need to do,” she said. “Also, there’s the famous question from patients and families: ‘will you be my nurse tomorrow?’ It reinforces my daily efforts and validates the importance of my job.”

Best advice received: There are two pieces of advice from Faryl’s parents that have stayed with her.

“Maintain your core values of honesty, trust and a dedicated work ethic,” she said. “The other is ‘things happen for a reason.’ We’re all part of a bigger picture.”

First job: Faryl has spent her entire career at Duke since graduating from Florida State University Nursing School in 1986.

“I wanted to work at the best hospital in the Southeast, so Duke was the place,” she said. “My brother-in-law attended Duke University and encouraged my decision to work at the hospital.”

Something most people don’t know about her: Faryl said she’s seen 99.5 percent of movies on the Hallmark Channel. She loves them all.

“I’ll watch them twice. I’ll watch them three times,” she said. “I have even gotten my husband and daughter addicted, but my son not so much. I’m still working on him.”

Nominate a colleague to be the next Blue Devil of the Week.