Heather Neeley
July 2019
Heather
Neeley
,
BSN, RN
Cardiac Acute care
Medical University of South Carolina
Charleston
,
SC
United States
Sometimes it's not the grandiose gesture of hosting a wedding or creating a special over the top experience for a patient that has the greatest impact on a patient's outcome. Sometimes, it is all of the very little, sincere, and genuine acts of compassion that have the most meaning. Often, all of these little acts add up to one great big difference and because they are so subtle, they just go unnoticed. These subtle acts are the definition of what it means to be a DAISY Nurse.
Recently, I watched as Heather provided "textbook" compassionate care. It is with great irony that I refer to this as textbook because TRUE compassion cannot be taught from a book. It is what sets the healthcare profession apart from others. It is the difference between a good nurse and a DAISY Nurse!
Heather was caring for a patient who was an "AND" or allow natural death. All too many times practitioners and health care professionals get lost in an acronym and misinterpret the fine line between allowing natural death yet still providing appropriate medical interventions. On this day, Heather worked tirelessly for 12 solid hours advocating for her patient who was falling into this grey area. This is where all of her subtle actions, resulted in the best care. I watched as she, time and time again, advocated for what was best for this patient. She was able to escalate care without providing "lifesaving" interventions. The interventions she worked so hard to get allowed the patient to be comfortable and medically stable. Multiple times throughout this day she called upon the resource of our rapid team. She collaborated with the primary team throughout the entire shift. She facilitated transferring the patient at shift change. She took care of not only the patient but both of his daughters at the bedside. The most heart-warming part of this entire day was that Heather also had a nursing student with her. She was kind and patient with him. This was heartwarming because she was providing top-notch compassionate care and role modeling this behavior for our future nurses. This was an important lesson the student could never learn from a book. I watched as she pushed herself to physical and emotional exhaustion, all in the name of doing what was best for this patient. This included difficult conversations with consulting medical teams that were hesitant to continue to provide appropriate medical interventions. With her persistence, the patient was moved to the ICU to receive appropriate medical treatment, and still, respect his wishes of continued care without heroic intervention. I am so proud of her and glad to call her a colleague. I certainly hope that if that patient was my father, his nurse would display the same DAISY worthy endurance and compassion that Heather did for this patient!
Recently, I watched as Heather provided "textbook" compassionate care. It is with great irony that I refer to this as textbook because TRUE compassion cannot be taught from a book. It is what sets the healthcare profession apart from others. It is the difference between a good nurse and a DAISY Nurse!
Heather was caring for a patient who was an "AND" or allow natural death. All too many times practitioners and health care professionals get lost in an acronym and misinterpret the fine line between allowing natural death yet still providing appropriate medical interventions. On this day, Heather worked tirelessly for 12 solid hours advocating for her patient who was falling into this grey area. This is where all of her subtle actions, resulted in the best care. I watched as she, time and time again, advocated for what was best for this patient. She was able to escalate care without providing "lifesaving" interventions. The interventions she worked so hard to get allowed the patient to be comfortable and medically stable. Multiple times throughout this day she called upon the resource of our rapid team. She collaborated with the primary team throughout the entire shift. She facilitated transferring the patient at shift change. She took care of not only the patient but both of his daughters at the bedside. The most heart-warming part of this entire day was that Heather also had a nursing student with her. She was kind and patient with him. This was heartwarming because she was providing top-notch compassionate care and role modeling this behavior for our future nurses. This was an important lesson the student could never learn from a book. I watched as she pushed herself to physical and emotional exhaustion, all in the name of doing what was best for this patient. This included difficult conversations with consulting medical teams that were hesitant to continue to provide appropriate medical interventions. With her persistence, the patient was moved to the ICU to receive appropriate medical treatment, and still, respect his wishes of continued care without heroic intervention. I am so proud of her and glad to call her a colleague. I certainly hope that if that patient was my father, his nurse would display the same DAISY worthy endurance and compassion that Heather did for this patient!