I would like to nominate Barbara Kerby for the DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses. I have had the pleasure of working with Barb for the last four years. I have always enjoyed working with Barb because she is not only a wealth of knowledge but she has always been supportive no matter how many questions or what type of questions I need to ask.
Recently, I served as the rescue nurse for 3HV and 7. Barb had been having a pretty busy day but whenever asked she always stated that she was doing well and that she did not need anything from me at the time. Towards the end of the shift, Barb called me and asked if I would be able to help her put in an IV. When I went down to help her the patient that needed the IV was pleasantly confused and did not understand why we were going to be placing a new IV in her. Barb had to get her from the chair into the bed. The patient was scared and you could tell by her confusion and her inability to help.
Once the patient was back in bed Barb helped assist me to put in the IV. Barb distracted the patient by talking with her and singing songs from the patient's past. I could not help but smile while witnessing this interaction. Barb ran out of songs so we sang "Mary has a little lamb" to her because it was taking me longer than anticipated.
I learned a very important lesson that day, no matter how busy you may be, never forget that patients are people. They are scared and may need extra attention to get certain things done. Barb showed compassion and willingness to put everything aside to help her patient so she would not be scared and this is a lesson I will take with me for the rest of my career.