Deb Emo and Elaine Clemenson are true DAISY Nurses. I have worked with both of them for over 25 years. They have taught me many things over the years and continue to mentor all the PICU staff. They have had many roles in my own personal growth as a nurse. They have been my teacher, my mentor, my coworker, and most importantly my friend. Deb and Elaine are stand out nurses in the Children's Hospital.
Through the many years of working side by side with these twonurses,they have never faltered in giving exceptional care to the patient and families. I have witnessed true passion and courage each and every day that I have worked alongside them. They connect with the patients and families and pour their heart and souls into making sure the patient and family have a true Sanford Experience.
On occasion, the Children's Hospital will take adult overflow patients. In my current role, I have helped make the decision when we can take adult patients. Each and every time I call either of these 2 staff, they always are willing and more than happy to help meet the needs of the whole hospital. Last week they both reached out to me and asked if they could have more education to help meet the special needs of the adult patient because they wanted to make sure they gave exceptional care to each patient that comes to their unit. They also wanted to make sure their team was very comfortable and knowledgeable about the needs of an adult patient.
This past week, again both Deb and Elaine impressed me and made me very proud to have them on my team. We had an adult patient in the PICU that was very ill and was in need of a palliative care setting. This patient was high acuity and required a lot of nursing care each shift. Deb, Elaine, and the PICU staff did an exceptional job caring for this patient. The family, the patient, and the Adult Hospitalist praised PICU for the care the patient received. Each day, I called Elaine or Deb and asked if she should transfer the patient to an adult unit and each conversation was based on what was best for this patient. Elaine expressed concern related to how the patient and family would transition to a new care team. Deb made it clear that this patient needed to stay in PICU and that we needed to do everything we could to help out this patient and family. Yesterday the patient died in our PICU. I met with both Deb and Elaine and they were both heartbroken at this loss. I never met this person but from the care and compassion these two express I could clearly see that this was a very special lady.
I am honored and privileged to work with both Deb and Elaine. They are very deserving of the DAISY Award.