Deborah Bell and Julie Kotasek
May 2023
Deborah
Bell
,
ASN, RN
Employee Health Office
United Health Services Inc.
Binghamton
,
NY
United States

 

 

 

Julie and Debbie both stayed to wait until the UBER driver arrived and made sure the couple got into the vehicle safely and asked the driver to make sure they both got into their house.
I would like to nominate two of my nurses from Binghamton Employee Health for the DAISY Award for showing full compassion for an elderly couple in need. The other evening when we were walking out to our cars after our shift, we passed an elderly couple who looked very distraught sitting in their wheelchairs in the lobby of our building. We could overhear the conversation on the phone they were having with a taxi company. The person on the phone was very short and rude to the couple who were trying to get a ride home. Debbie Bell, RN, and Julie Kotasek, RN then asked the couple if they needed help. The elderly couple explained that all they needed was a ride home and the taxi cab told them they couldn’t accommodate them because they didn’t drop them off at that location. Julie Kotasek then went into the primary care office to get more information about phone numbers for them to call. Unfortunately, the taxi companies all had closed at 4 pm and Julie mentioned to the couple that she had the UBER app and could see if she could arrange a ride with Uber. The couple offered to pay for the Uber and Julie insisted that she pay for their ride as it was not their fault that their doctor’s appointment ran late. Julie and Debbie both stayed to wait until the UBER driver arrived and made sure the couple got into the vehicle safely and asked the driver to make sure they both got into their house. I feel strongly that both nurses should be recognized for their selfless act of helping this couple in need when they could have easily turned their heads and walked to their cars and gone home. It was very compassionate for both of them to assist and for Julie to pay for their ride.