I would like to nominate my co-worker Crystal Mohr for the DAISY award. Crystal treats all of her patient’s families with compassion and empathy and she looks for opportunities to include them in the care of their family member.

Recently one Saturday afternoon we received notice that a young teen in our community was unresponsive and that CPR was in progress. The boy arrived shortly after and unfortunately he was pronounced dead by the Emergency Department doctor. The family arrived soon after and was placed in our family room to await an update on their son. In the ED we deal with tragedy frequently but when a child is involved it’s always an emotional and heart wrenching experience for all that is involved. It is typical for a nurse to accompany the doctor whenever we inform the family that their loved one has died. Crystal took it upon herself to fill this role. Because of the child’s age and the circumstance, it was possible that a medical examiner may be consulted to perform an autopsy; therefore, the body could not be released to the funeral home. Crystal stayed in constant contact with the family to reassure and comfort them, and in the end the child’s body was released one hour before the viewing. The family was grateful to Crystal for her dedication.

Crystal is one of our five primary charge nurses in the ED and is also a per diem forensics nurse. As a member of the ED leadership team, Crystal is a strong, confident, yet approachable leader.

This case was especially difficult for Crystal because she has a son almost the same age as the child, but she maintained her professionalism and provided extraordinary compassion.