Clayton has been an excellent patient advocate since starting in the SICU. On this particular day, Clayton went well above and beyond his everyday duties.  

I had come in for a day shift and was assigned a patient I had never cared for before.  The plan for this patient was that he was going to be transitioned to comfort care later that day.  We were waiting for additional family to arrive for the extubating. This patient had suffered a significant brain injury and Clayton had been his primary nurse many times during the course of his stay.  When the daughter of the patient arrived, she immediately saw her Dad and began to panic and cry uncontrollably. The patient had his eyes open for the first time since admission.  She began questioning if comfort care was the right thing for her dad. During this time, she continued to ask for Clayton repeatedly.  She stated, "Clayton just knows my dad so well, and he is so caring; I just want his opinion." 

That day, Clayton had been in the unit working on other projects, however, was not bedside staffing.  I told him what was happening, and he immediately dropped everything and went to the family.  He spent approximately 30 minutes with the family, listening to their needs and concerns.  Following their conversation, the daughter was so much more at peace with her decision to make her father comfort care.  Clayton was not even on shift this day and he made the time for a patient and their family out of the kindness of his heart.  Clayton deserves the DAISY Award because of his true compassion, caring for patients day in and day out.  It's always a pleasure working with him.