I would like to share a story of Ann and a patient encounter I witnessed. The patient, who was an older man, had been in the hospital for several days, due to confusion and an unfamiliar environment he started to hit the nurses and healthcare staff caring for him. There were numerous code purple alerts called on the patient in the preceding days and at the time of this event; another code purple was in progress.
A handful of healthcare workers and staff responded and were all in the patient's room. Ann recognized that there were too many staff members in the room causing the patient to be more afraid and aggressive. She voiced her concern and the staff moved out of the patient's room, leaving space for the patient to feel comfortable to come out of his room. The patient sat in a chair at the nurse's station near her. Ann intervened and started a dialogue with the patient. She called the patient by his name and asked the patient to roll his chair closer to her. The patient asked Ann if he could speak with his son.
Ann immediately took her work phone and called the patient's son. She gave the phone to the patient, so he could speak this son regarding his concerns. The patient gave the phone back and Ann asked the patient's son when he would be able to see his father. Ann continued to speak with the patient and the son over the phone. By the time Ann ended the call, the patient's son informed her and his father that he would bring his father lunch and sit with him for a while.
The DAISY award recognizes nurses for their skillful and compassionate care. Ann shows those qualifications daily when working with our patients. She was able to calm the patient and, just for a little while, decrease the patients fear. Without hesitation, I would award Ann the DAISY Award for providing all our patients at SDGH with selfless care, compassion with servant leadership.