My mother underwent a simultaneous liver and kidney transplant in June of 2021 and a second kidney transplant in September 2022. She has had a bumpy journey and has had multiple admissions to address complications following both transplants. We have been fortunate that she has always had an amazing transplant team, one of those being Nurse Daisy.

Although my mother has had Daisy as her nurse several times over the past 18 months and we have always been impressed with her compassion and skill, on her most recent admission, Daisy’s actions reflected a whole different level of excellence. We had been in the emergency department for several hours with signs and symptoms of sepsis. As my mom was transferred from the ED to the transplant floor and wheeled into her room, Daisy took one look at her and knew her current condition was much more serious than what she had been expecting. I immediately watched Daisy spring into “action” mode as she began counting my mom’s respiration rate. Upon realizing it was over 40 and determining she had a temperature over 102, in a matter of just moments from our arrival, Daisy had my mom hooked up to telemetry for up to the second monitoring, had her under a mountain of ice packs to bring the fever down, had dispatched the nurse she was precepting with a list of tasks to complete in the next few minutes and was on the phone with the provider and the rapid response team.

Over the next two hours, I continued to watch Daisy methodically and efficiently address all of my mom’s needs and coordinate all of the different components that came into her room to assess the situation with great skill and professionalism. Despite the pace and urgency of everything going on, Daisy never outwardly looked rushed and was the epitome of calm and control. Despite all the moving parts and her laser focus on my mom, Daisy went out of her way while everything was going on to keep me updated on everything she was doing, why she was doing it, and how it was important to my mom’s care.

Once it became clear a higher level of care was needed, Daisy realized I was starting to panic a bit. Just as she had from our arrival, Daisy calmly walked over to me and explained exactly why the higher level of care was the best option and said if this was her loved one, she would want that for them. Although our entire time in Daisy’s care was less than three hours that day, she exhibited unparalleled skill and compassionate care in every moment, not only for my mom, but for me as well.

When my mom stabilized and was transferred back to the Transplant floor a few days later, I had a chance to thank Daisy for everything she had done that day and how much I appreciated her taking care of me as well. She told me that when she got home, she had worried about me and if she had spent enough time keeping me updated with everything happening. I assured her that she had but realized that her comment only further illustrated her commitment to her patients and their families. Even after going non-stop for three hours for my Mom and me, she still thought about how she could have done more, further showing why she is truly an Extraordinary Nurse who goes above and beyond for her patients and their families.