Kailyn Paige Lewis
May 2025
Kailyn Paige
Lewis
,
BSN, RN
Acute Care/ Emergency Department
Columbia Country Health System
Walla Walla
,
WA
United States

 

 

 

She delegated the other staff to watch the floor patients while she jumped into the chaos that came from this trauma in a hospital with severely limited resources and personnel.
One day, this tiny critical access hospital received an MVC trauma, where four patients between ages 14-19 were critically injured. The vehicle crashed in a 55mph zone and rolled over six times. The car did not have seatbelts or airbags, and two of the children were thrown through the front windshield and were in critical condition. Kaylin, the charge nurse with less than two years of experience as an RN, jumped in to help me as I was the only nurse assigned to work in the entire ED. She delegated the other staff to watch the floor patients while she jumped into the chaos that came from this trauma in a hospital with severely limited resources and personnel. While I remained in the trauma bay with one particular patient who needed 1:1 nursing care and was decompensating, Kaylin was busy taking full responsibility and care for the other children who were less critical, but critical nonetheless, assisting the MD with stitching and splinting, starting fluids, giving meds, and comforting families, who were understandably panicked and starting to fill the ER hallways. This is a small town where news travels fast and very quickly. Everyone who knew the children began to arrive and crowd the small ER hallway, while Kaylin and the MD were the only staff working the unit. I could not leave my head injury trauma bay patient alone while we waited for the life flight to arrive. During my time in that situation, Kaylin stabilized the remaining patients and even tended to the other walk-in patients in the ED waiting room. An NSTEMI arrived during this chaos, and Kaylin stabilized him quickly. She was hugging crying family members and listening to concerns. She made phone calls and arranged the logistics for appropriate next-step care. Kaylin was also responsible for all remaining patients in the hospital and, as frequently as she could, would vocera the other staff to check in and ensure the floor was running smoothly. Kaylin went above and beyond. She is one of the few other nurses at this hospital who is ER trained, and if she had not been working that day, I cannot say for certainty that all of those emergency patients would be alive or would have received the quality care they deserved. Kaylin ensured that each patient and each family member felt heard and attended to. She showed abundant compassion, critical thinking, adaptability, leadership, teamwork, and communication skills. No other nurse deserves this DAISY Award more than Kaylin Lewis, BSN, RN.