April Hawkins
December 2020
April
Hawkins
,
RN, BSN
Intensive Care Unit
AdventHealth New Smyrna Beach
Four hours after her shift ended, April was still there caring for him as if he was her own father.
I have only been April Hawkins' manager for a short amount of time but have had the pleasure of witnessing her nursing that is full of knowledge, compassion, and just pure love for what she does.
On Father's Day, a head trauma patient arrived at the ICU after the ED recognized that any further medical interventions would be futile. The patient was a father participating in their annual off-road bike ride and experienced a significant fall. He suffered a heart attack and a head injury. The family decided to donate his organs. April coordinated with the family charge RN and Legacy to achieve this. She seemed to really understand the family and their needs. She reminisced with them about his hobbies, favorite foods, and music. It was a 3-day ordeal to ensure all organ recipients were ready. April was there for the family throughout it all.
On the last day, the family said goodbye and the patient was to go to procurement surgery a few hours later. April remembered his favorite music and played it for him in his final hours on earth. Four hours after her shift ended, April was still there caring for him as if he was her own father. She also organized an employee procession to honor this man on the way to surgery.
A second event involved a patient that incurred a heart attack while coaching his son's Little League team. The patient required the cath lab and cardiac cooling with a poor prognosis. Again, April was there for the wife and explained everything that was happening and what will happen. April never left the room. When he came to the next day, April was there for him holding a one-sided conversation to let him know where he was and how much his family cared for him.
Eventually, he came around and asked if she had kids. April responded she had six kids but has been working a lot of hours and the younger ones have been missing her. A week later, the man was discharged but asked if he could send a letter to her son and thank him for his mom's time and how important she was. He said without her, his little boy wouldn't have had a father.
Most recently, she cared for a patient needing a pacemaker and was very confused. April has such kindness and gentleness about her that she is able to calm the confusion and always make the patient and family feel safe. His daughter could not visit due to distance and COVID-19, so April used her personal phone to ease the daughter's mind. The patient survived and is attending cardiac rehab along with losing weight. He reached out to tell April that he is well and could remember her eyes.
April goes above and beyond when she is at work and when she is off duty. She will call to check on her patients on her days off because she truly cares about people. If she doesn't know something, she will research it and learn it to better care for her patients. She has even taught fellow nurses at times. April is the epitome of what a DAISY Nurse is.
On Father's Day, a head trauma patient arrived at the ICU after the ED recognized that any further medical interventions would be futile. The patient was a father participating in their annual off-road bike ride and experienced a significant fall. He suffered a heart attack and a head injury. The family decided to donate his organs. April coordinated with the family charge RN and Legacy to achieve this. She seemed to really understand the family and their needs. She reminisced with them about his hobbies, favorite foods, and music. It was a 3-day ordeal to ensure all organ recipients were ready. April was there for the family throughout it all.
On the last day, the family said goodbye and the patient was to go to procurement surgery a few hours later. April remembered his favorite music and played it for him in his final hours on earth. Four hours after her shift ended, April was still there caring for him as if he was her own father. She also organized an employee procession to honor this man on the way to surgery.
A second event involved a patient that incurred a heart attack while coaching his son's Little League team. The patient required the cath lab and cardiac cooling with a poor prognosis. Again, April was there for the wife and explained everything that was happening and what will happen. April never left the room. When he came to the next day, April was there for him holding a one-sided conversation to let him know where he was and how much his family cared for him.
Eventually, he came around and asked if she had kids. April responded she had six kids but has been working a lot of hours and the younger ones have been missing her. A week later, the man was discharged but asked if he could send a letter to her son and thank him for his mom's time and how important she was. He said without her, his little boy wouldn't have had a father.
Most recently, she cared for a patient needing a pacemaker and was very confused. April has such kindness and gentleness about her that she is able to calm the confusion and always make the patient and family feel safe. His daughter could not visit due to distance and COVID-19, so April used her personal phone to ease the daughter's mind. The patient survived and is attending cardiac rehab along with losing weight. He reached out to tell April that he is well and could remember her eyes.
April goes above and beyond when she is at work and when she is off duty. She will call to check on her patients on her days off because she truly cares about people. If she doesn't know something, she will research it and learn it to better care for her patients. She has even taught fellow nurses at times. April is the epitome of what a DAISY Nurse is.