Kathleen Finn represents the image of The DAISY Foundation’s definition of compassion, caring, and trustworthiness. Kathleen is a true professional in every leadership activity she is involved in. Recently the hospital has seen an increase in violence and disruptive behavior from patients and their families. The MICU, where Kathleen serves as a clinician, seems to face one form of this behavior daily. Kathleen drives our Crisis Incident Stress Management (CISM) work, as she believes strongly in providing one-to-one support sessions to nurses who have been affected by very difficult patient situations.

One situation I recall vividly was a nurse who was struggling with a patient’s family pushing to continue critical care when clearly there was no hope of reversing the situation. The family could become hostile and angry with any care updates or attempts to provide care. Communication from the family was aggressive and intimidating. Kathleen personally took the emotional care of this family under her wing throughout their three-day vigil. She de-escalated a volatile situation with firmness, grace, and empathy. This situation could have resulted in this grieving family not seeing their loved one in their last moments of life because of their behaviors and inability to cope with the situation. Kathleen recognized this family’s inability to let their family member go. She worked tirelessly with them, recognizing their loss and over-the-top grief as well as anger. This patient was only 30 years old and, as the family mentioned over and over again, they were angry at God for taking their child so early in their life. They relayed often, if they could sacrifice themselves instead of their child, they would. Kathleen remained compassionate, empathetic, and professional in her demeanor and approach. She kept her bias and feelings about End of Life out of the situation and graciously advocated for what this family wanted and really needed. Debriefing with Kathleen after the situation, Kathleen stated her goal was for these grieving parents to know they did everything they could to save their dying child and recognize what they were going through was a nightmare for any family. After the patient finally passed, Kathleen arranged follow-up CISM care for the staff affected by this patient.

This is just one example of the care Kathleen Finn provides to the patients in the MICU as well as the nursing staff there. This is who Kathleen is. It is a true calling for her to provide this compassionate care in the MICU. Kathleen Finn emulates compassion and professionalism in her nursing practice. She is a true DAISY Nurse Leader.

Note: This is Kathleen's 2nd DAISY Award!