2017 Gold Medalist – Clinical Practice in a Small Hospital

Honey Benitez, BSN, RN-C, Houston Methodist San Jacinto Hospital

For the past decade, Honey Benitez has brought her passion and nursing skills to Houston Methodist San Jacinto (HMSJ) Hospital, caring for a unique and complex group of patients with poise. She began her 29-year career as a nurse in the Philippines after completing her BSN in 1988, and relocated to the United States in 1994.

Honey’s inspiration comes from her childhood. Her grandfather, the first nurse in the family, and her uncle, the first doctor in the family, ran a makeshift clinic in their home every summer in the Philippines, offering free clinic visits. “I thought it was a very noble profession, caring for people and giving back to the community,” she says. “Today my aunt is also a nurse, and as a family we sponsor a medical/surgical mission every two years.”

Thanks to support from her mentors, Honey involved herself in committee work early in her tenure at HMSJ. She represents her unit, 2 West, on the Interprofessional Shared Governance Council and plays an influential role as co-chair of the IT Shared Governance Council. Under her guidance, several innovative performance improvement initiatives have been implemented, including an effective Communication of New Medications process and new Medication Side Effects sheets. Her work with Project Flip Flop, which involved an improvement in the handoff process from nurse to nurse, was presented at Houston Methodist’s Regional Shared Governance Retreat and later adopted throughout the eight-hospital system. The project encourages patients and families to take a more active role in bedside rounding by being prepared with written questions for their physicians.

As a Magnet® Champion, Honey served as a Magnet appraiser escort during HMSJ’s American Nurses Credentialing Center site visit in 2016. To prepare the staff, she assisted in mock site visits and education. “Through her dedication and commitment to our organization, our hospital received its first Magnet recognition,” wrote her nominator, Katherine Trevino, BSN, RN-C.

In addition to her commitment to moving her unit forward, she sits on the Physician- Nurse Collaboration Committee and is active in the Philippine Nurses Association-Texas Golden Triangle Division. In 2016, she was recognized with the Houston Methodist San Jacinto Outstanding Nurse Clinician Award after being nominated by her peers and selected from nominees in departments across the hospital. That same year, she was nominated for the Sound Star Award, which is presented by the Sound Physicians group to a clinician who has displayed consistent dedication to collaboration and teamwork in providing exceptional patient care.

“Patient care that goes above and beyond is Honey’s mission,” says Trevino. “One of my favorite stories involves her ability to make an amazing cake from scratch. One day she was rounding on her patients – among them was a lady with terminal cancer. After hearing that she had no family, Honey asked her what would bring her joy. When she confessed that she’d always had a weakness for chocolate, Honey baked her one of her incredible chocolate cakes.”

In addition to her work at the hospital and family medical missions, Honey supports her husband in his philanthropy. They volunteer in local schools, giving free art lessons to children and teens. The couple also sponsors college students and have adopted homeless people in their communities and built small houses for them.

“That’s where all our money goes,” she says. “Our son, who is now an adult, is old enough to help us with our volunteer work so we involve him to inspire him to carry on our family’s legacy of being helpful and caring individuals.”

She describes being named a Good Samaritan Foundation Gold Medalists as “a pinnacle in my career as a nurse. It makes me feel humbled and also challenged to do more in life, not just as a nurse but also as an educator. I want to inspire and teach others, especially the new nurses, and help mold them into accomplished professional clinicians. They, in turn, inspire me to become an even better advocate for my patients. We learn from everyone who touches our lives.”