I share many hospice patients who are in long-term care facilities with Karen. Karen is very attentive to the patient and facility needs. She goes above and beyond to care for these folks. One example is that a facility patient’s family was concerned that their mother, who has dementia, wasn’t getting her teeth brushed often enough. Karen now takes the time to brush this patient’s teeth every visit. Karen gives a report to the team after every patient visit so that the chaplain and I are up to date with what is going on with the patient. Through this communication, Karen has fostered a team spirit that doesn’t exist in all cases.

Karen also communicates with the patients' families after each visit so they are up to date on the status of their loved ones. Her care has led to families being able to cope better and having higher satisfaction with the care of their loved ones. Karen consistently goes above and beyond for every single patient! Specifically, there was a difficult patient not only in regard to complex nursing needs but also because the patient was young and very communicative of his needs so we got to know him very well. Karen was extremely diligent in providing care to him physically throughout his whole hospice experience but ultimately on the day of his death, she was present to him as a human angel. Karen sat with him for hours and provided him with the compassion and loving care only a nurse can give. There are not enough thank yous or awards to truly recognize the remarkable nurse she is; however, presenting Karen with the DAISY Award is at least an attempt to honor her!

I am blessed to work with many amazing nurses. In the past few years I’ve worked with Karen, she consistently goes above and beyond providing excellent care to patients. I work in the evenings and overnight and have frequently witnessed Karen working late into the evening to ensure all patients are taken care of. I have heard her say, “All of my patients get 100% regardless of my caseload.” Karen has called me on several occasions communicating changes in patients enabling me to provide care in her time off. Her documentation is always complete and paints a clear picture of patients' current status.

Recently, she stayed with a patient and his family late into the night when he was unable to transfer to Solace in order to manage his symptoms until his death. This provided that patient and his family with an excellent experience and one that embodies the mission of Carepartners Hospice.