June 2012
Alicia
Geiger
,
RN
NICU
Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital
St. Petersburg
,
FL
United States
My daughter was born with breathing distress and admitted to the ACH. My wife and I were fortunate enough to have Alicia as our nurse on two separate occasions, and our family is happy to nominate Alicia for a DAISY Award.
Alicia’s attention to detail provided demonstrative proof of the high quality care she would give our daughter. While it may seem like a small deal among all the medical actions she performed, Alicia diligently completed our "Family Information Board" in our NICU room. Having the board filled out provided us with stability by knowing who our nurse was at a glance along with feeding times and hands-on care times. It only took a minute to fill out, but Alicia made sure to take the extra minute. Her efforts did not go unnoticed and provided added peace of mind at a traumatic time in a confusing and foreign atmosphere.
Alicia was extremely sensitive to my wife's feminine needs. My wife had just given birth a few days prior, and had forgotten an important feminine hygiene item at home and was medically in need of it. She asked Alicia if there was any way to get this item and 20 minutes later Alicia had located it in a separate part of the hospital and presented it to my wife. We knew that the compassionate care she was giving us was also being given to our baby, which helped ease the blow of having our baby in the NICU.
Alicia was our nurse the day our daughter had her breathing tube removed. Earlier that day, the doctors had made the decision to remove our daughter’s breathing tube, and Alicia said that if all went well, my wife would be able to hold our daughter, which would be the first time she would be held by someone in the 5 days since she had been born.
By the time she had her tube removed and had rested a bit it was late in the day, the end of Alicia’s shift. However, Alicia did not forget about our family, and acted as the voice our daughter didn't have by making sure that she got the love she deserved and needed from her mother. Alicia made the extra effort to put our daughter into her mother's arms before ending her shift. Alicia could have just as easily left it to the night nurse, but she followed through with her promise to our daughter and us. It was evident that our daughter had been through quite an ordeal and was in desperate need of solid human contact, and Alicia took the extra effort to ensure that happened. Needless to say, Alicia’s compassionate quality care created a memory for our family that will be remembered for the rest of our lives.
We also witnessed Alicia’s tremendous ability to work within a team. Successful teamwork requires knowing when to rely on your team for help. Alicia needed to move our daughter’s IV needle, and was having a hard time finding a suitable vein. Rather than attempting several times and risking sticking her unnecessarily, she immediately recognized that the condition of her veins at the time required someone with slightly more experience at setting up IV’s in tiny baby veins. Thus, Alicia called another nurse in to assist. Alicia’s action of calling on additional help not only demonstrated her commitment to providing high-quality care, but also her commitment to providing that care through the use of successful teamwork.
Alicia’s attention to detail provided demonstrative proof of the high quality care she would give our daughter. While it may seem like a small deal among all the medical actions she performed, Alicia diligently completed our "Family Information Board" in our NICU room. Having the board filled out provided us with stability by knowing who our nurse was at a glance along with feeding times and hands-on care times. It only took a minute to fill out, but Alicia made sure to take the extra minute. Her efforts did not go unnoticed and provided added peace of mind at a traumatic time in a confusing and foreign atmosphere.
Alicia was extremely sensitive to my wife's feminine needs. My wife had just given birth a few days prior, and had forgotten an important feminine hygiene item at home and was medically in need of it. She asked Alicia if there was any way to get this item and 20 minutes later Alicia had located it in a separate part of the hospital and presented it to my wife. We knew that the compassionate care she was giving us was also being given to our baby, which helped ease the blow of having our baby in the NICU.
Alicia was our nurse the day our daughter had her breathing tube removed. Earlier that day, the doctors had made the decision to remove our daughter’s breathing tube, and Alicia said that if all went well, my wife would be able to hold our daughter, which would be the first time she would be held by someone in the 5 days since she had been born.
By the time she had her tube removed and had rested a bit it was late in the day, the end of Alicia’s shift. However, Alicia did not forget about our family, and acted as the voice our daughter didn't have by making sure that she got the love she deserved and needed from her mother. Alicia made the extra effort to put our daughter into her mother's arms before ending her shift. Alicia could have just as easily left it to the night nurse, but she followed through with her promise to our daughter and us. It was evident that our daughter had been through quite an ordeal and was in desperate need of solid human contact, and Alicia took the extra effort to ensure that happened. Needless to say, Alicia’s compassionate quality care created a memory for our family that will be remembered for the rest of our lives.
We also witnessed Alicia’s tremendous ability to work within a team. Successful teamwork requires knowing when to rely on your team for help. Alicia needed to move our daughter’s IV needle, and was having a hard time finding a suitable vein. Rather than attempting several times and risking sticking her unnecessarily, she immediately recognized that the condition of her veins at the time required someone with slightly more experience at setting up IV’s in tiny baby veins. Thus, Alicia called another nurse in to assist. Alicia’s action of calling on additional help not only demonstrated her commitment to providing high-quality care, but also her commitment to providing that care through the use of successful teamwork.