This nurse exhibits the extraordinary characteristics of what The DAISY Award represents every day as she cares for each and every one of her patients. This nurse effortlessly builds relationships with each and every one of the people on her team. Throughout her career at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, she has consistently contributed to the system priorities by her innate ability to use the values, cares about people, passion for kids, and dedication to all better, that makes a children's nurse extraordinary.

Recently I was caring for a patient in urgent care. He was brought in by his mother because he was disoriented and not acting right. Within a few minutes of arriving, we had a pretty good idea of what was going on. Within an hour of arriving, this sweet little boy was given a lifelong diagnosis of Type I diabetes. Understandably, his mother had a lot of questions and even more emotions. I was able to answer a lot of these questions and did my very best to care for my patient while answering all I could for his mom. Transport was on the way to get them to take them to the hospital for admission. Once he was settled and ready for transport, I knew I had a resource that may bring some comfort, even if it was brief, to his mother. This nurse happened to be working in the department that day. I knew that this nurse had a perspective that I could not share with his mother and no matter how much I wanted to be able to comfort her and to give her even a small amount of peace even for a few moments, this nurse could in a deeper way. This nurse also has a child with type 1 diabetes and she had been diagnosed just over a year ago. I briefly excused myself from the room and went to find this nurse. I caught her up on what was going on with my patient and asked if she would mind coming to talk with the mom. She did not hesitate. She was able to give this mom a pep talk, cry session, and packing list in moments, all while showing the deepest amount of compassion. Rather than closing off something deeply personal and fresh about her own life and child, she opened up on a personal level and related to her mom to mom, down to a handwritten packing list, so she would not waste time worrying and wondering what she needed to pack to go to the hospital: phone chargers, sweater/sweatshirt (because the hospital is cold!), something familiar from home to bring comfort for her son (lovie, pillow, blanket, stuffed animal), and many other things that only a person who had firsthand experience could know would be needed. The mother was so grateful to this nurse for her insight and time. I was also grateful that I was able to witness this deep level of compassion and selflessness once again from this nurse. I have no doubt that on this day this nurse "made a difference in the life of a child", and his mother.