Recently, my wife, J, had the Watchman device implanted at AMC. She was assigned Nurse Cherry Navalta. We want to nominate Cherry for the DAISY Award. We observed numerous, very noteworthy examples of Cherry's wonderful demeanor and will relay two of them that stand out the most while caring for my wife.

Story 1: We live approximately 90 miles away, so we were up at 4:00 AM and arrived on time at 6:45 AM. My wife's procedure was scheduled for 7:00 AM. My wife has Alzheimer's. My daughter and I were asked to keep her company while waiting for the procedure. Due to unavoidable circumstances, the procedure was delayed until almost noon. My wife does not tolerate delays, especially lengthy ones. She becomes very impatient and agitated. This time, it was very different. J was not agitated, instead she was calm throughout the delay and that extended to the post-procedure duration, as well. I owe it all to Cherry's comforting words and actions to keep my wife relaxed and in a positive mood. This was something I could never do when in this type of situation.  I was very relieved. It took a lot of stress off me. Cherry’s gentle demeanor was so impressive.

Story 2: My wife tends to hum or sing nonsensical melodies, which is very annoying. Cherry came to the rescue. As Cherry was about to take my wife on a walk, she asked her if she would join her in singing "You Are My Sunshine." J immediately joined in. I was so pleased with Cherry.

We heartily recommend Cherry Navalta for the DAISY Award. She is a keeper and a very valuable asset to AMC.

Note: This is Cherry's 2nd DAISY Award!