I can't just share one story when it comes to Danya. She embodies what it means to be an extraordinary nurse. Our pulmonology clinic is positioned by the ER (we have a window in which we see incoming patients). One time, she witnessed a man who needed help outside the ER after he fell and hit his head. She sprinted over and immediately got to work and getting him into the ER. She never hesitates to help and jumps in when patients are in need. She has helped other departments, like the ER, multiple times because she understands that we are better together as a team. Another time, she noticed a man had been waiting hours for a ride outside of the ER. She went up and talked with the man, sat by him, and made him feel important. This was a small act of kindness that demonstrated Danya's awareness of others. She truly showed that she values everyone. There was another time in which we had a patient call in frustrated over various things. She not only heard the patient out and help resolve the issue, but helped the patient feel validated, supported, and valued. She truly understands her patients and displays empathy. We call Danya the "People's Nurse" because she works so hard to understand each individual patient and hears them out.

Danya's reactiveness to other's needing help has helped me reinforce that we nurses "do the right thing". If we're going to do something, we do it right. We once had a patient who ended up going to the ER for a massive PE, and he lived. I believe Danya's triaging over the phone is partly why he's alive. She has taught the rest of us nurses to trust our guts to act with a purpose, that purpose being that we deliver high quality care. Danya is able to use the combination of her personal experiences and nursing knowledge to relate to patients and make them feel like they are receiving compassionate care. She has worked in surgery before and has been a patient of surgery herself, so she is able to put those receiving procedures at ease with all her experience while still validating patients' feelings.

Any time we have a code-like situation, Danya is first to run out and help. We once had a patient collapse in the hallway, and she was ready to provide CPR, working with the doctors from the clinic to carry out life-saving care and do whatever was needed to help the patient. Danya also checks in on all team members at work, making people feel loved, supported, and confident in their jobs. She has helped build a nursing team that wants to work together and make an impact in our patient's lives. I hope one day I can be as cool as Danya and even play pickleball as well as she does.