As the social worker who has worked for six years in GPC, I am moved to nominate Nurse Bell for the DAISY Award, which recognizes extraordinary nurses. Once Nurse Bell joined our clinical team, she enhanced the atmosphere with positivity, professionalism, outstanding work ethic, integrity, and teamwork. These attributes contributed to the harmony and growth among staff and our Veterans.

At times, many of our Veterans have no interest in visiting the social worker after seeing the nurse and provider. Nurse Bell diligently worked hard to counter this effect. Through collaboration and patient education, during her triage, she makes a point to educate them on the importance of visiting the social worker to openly discuss several benefits and advance planning measures for future healthcare decisions. Her collaborative efforts include inviting the social worker to join her during the triage meetings, which in turn allows a complete and thorough psychosocial assessment. This allows for a more expeditious session, eliminating the routine of repeating questions that appear to tire the Veterans quickly and discourage the visit.

As a result of her educational, collaborative efforts with our social workers, many of our Veterans are now receiving service connection disability and non-service connection pensions and leave with a more thorough knowledge and understanding of advance directives. Nurse Bell always treats Veterans and staff with respect and dignity. She has demonstrated an excellent work ethic and stood out as a nurse willing and able to go beyond the average call of duty. She is a philanthropist, and we've seen her spend her own money to travel and purchase meals to feed homeless veterans during the Christmas holidays in Detroit, MI, every year. As a veteran herself, she is a shining star who always leads by example.