It was a weekend shift, and I was the trauma nurse. Until 11 am, I was the only trauma nurse, so my charge nurse Dani was helping me out with traumas as they came in. We had a mother come in after an MVC with her one-year-old son. The Mother was upgraded to a trauma, but the one-year-old was taken over to pediatrics. Dani assisted me with the mother in the trauma bay, and when I took the patient to scans, Dani went back over to pediatrics to help with the one-year-old until the mother got back.

While I was in x-ray with the trauma patient, Dani called me; she had been informed that there were two other people in the car, an infant and the husband of the patient/father of the kids. It turns out that the infant was at INOVA and was in critical condition after the accident. As a mother of a one-year-old with an infant on the way, I found this very difficult to grasp. Dani, however, made sure to handle the difficult part of this situation.

First off, she was the one who informed the mother of the update of the infant; she sat there with compassion, holding the mother's hand while she cried. She then got in touch with the charge nurse at INOVA and sat with the mother/patient while she took the update. As both of our patients at Suburban were stable we anticipated both of them being discharged, however the family did not have a car seat since the child's car seat was involved in an accident. Dani worked endlessly to call EMS, Police, and social workers to try to get a car seat to safely get this child back home. Also, while doing that, Dani spoke with the mom, and Dani was able to pay for an Uber for the nanny to come here to take care of the child and take the one-year-old home so the mother could get to INOVA to be with her critically sick infant. It was extremely difficult to find a car seat, so Dani contacted our manager, and our manager, G, went on her day off and bought a car seat at Target and brought it to Dani for the child.

At this point, the mother and child were cleared for discharge. Dani then got one Uber for the one-year-old and the nanny back to their house and then got another Uber to INOVA for the mother. During this whole time, Dani stayed in touch with the charge nurse at INOVA, constantly checked in with my patient, and continued to offer a hand to hold and a shoulder to cry on. While this was a very difficult situation for all staff and the patient, without Dani, it would have been impossible. She made the impossible possible and, with her compassion and skill, was able to expedite the discharge process for this family. I could not have handled this situation without her.

I also would like to add that due to her efforts, we now have a car seat readily available, as this has been an issue in the past as well. I see her daily going above and beyond for her staff and patients, and this is just one shining example of that. Dani should be recognized as she has all of the characteristics of a DAISY nurse.