January 2026 Honoree
Christina Steele, RN
I would like to nominate Christina Steele for the DAISY Award. I have worked with her since she started working as an RN. She has shown great technical skills and excellent assessment skills. She accepts any assignment and gives it her utmost effort. She is a great team player and is often helping her coworkers and families on any given shift. But I would like to nominate her for another reason: her ability to make such meaningful connections with her patients and families.
In the last two months, Christina has taken care of two of our most acute and most involved patients. In December, she cared for a palliative care patient that we were managing due to his EVD. Christina did this with such compassion, care, and kindness; she never shied away from caring for him despite his palliative diagnosis. She cared for him like a seasoned palliative care champion, despite never receiving the extra education. She continued to care for him right up until his discharge home to hospice. It was such a kind, gentle yet complete care plan that she provided; I know that the parents and the patient were better because of her care.
The second incident was in January. She cared for a trauma patient who had significant injuries and, at first admission to the floor, required close monitoring and stat procedures. She did all of this with her usual calm demeanor and age-appropriate explanations for this patient. This family had other siblings in the PICU who were critically ill. Christina effortlessly balanced the family's needs, the patient's needs, and the overall needs of the family. She used humor to connect with the patient and gain her trust. She was gentle with the family as they had so many stressors regarding the siblings. Somehow, she balanced it all. She is able to be so compassionate, all the while doing the things that need to be done. It is a rare nurse who can meet a family where they are on their journey with a perfect balance of compassion and humor that helps them on the road to healing, but Christina is that nurse. For these examples and many others, I believe Christina is the perfect example of the nurse that the DAISY Award celebrates.
In the last two months, Christina has taken care of two of our most acute and most involved patients. In December, she cared for a palliative care patient that we were managing due to his EVD. Christina did this with such compassion, care, and kindness; she never shied away from caring for him despite his palliative diagnosis. She cared for him like a seasoned palliative care champion, despite never receiving the extra education. She continued to care for him right up until his discharge home to hospice. It was such a kind, gentle yet complete care plan that she provided; I know that the parents and the patient were better because of her care.
The second incident was in January. She cared for a trauma patient who had significant injuries and, at first admission to the floor, required close monitoring and stat procedures. She did all of this with her usual calm demeanor and age-appropriate explanations for this patient. This family had other siblings in the PICU who were critically ill. Christina effortlessly balanced the family's needs, the patient's needs, and the overall needs of the family. She used humor to connect with the patient and gain her trust. She was gentle with the family as they had so many stressors regarding the siblings. Somehow, she balanced it all. She is able to be so compassionate, all the while doing the things that need to be done. It is a rare nurse who can meet a family where they are on their journey with a perfect balance of compassion and humor that helps them on the road to healing, but Christina is that nurse. For these examples and many others, I believe Christina is the perfect example of the nurse that the DAISY Award celebrates.
Thank you, Christina, for your exceptional compassion, advocacy, and dedication to your patients. You truly make a difference.
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