Last month on another crazy night in the Emergency Department, I was able to witness something that changed all involved for the rest of our careers. We had multiple holds and ambulances piling up in the EMS bay and we were truly being stretched beyond our capacity. I was the clinical supervisor on this amazing night. While in the middle of trying to juggle the chaos of a full ED, I heard the most gut-wrenching, blood-curdling scream come from the front half of the department. This scream was one that sent shock waves down your spine due to the raw emotion behind the scream. I went to investigate the sound and found a young female patient in the ED restroom. The patient was collapsing into her family member's arms, bent over with her pants around her ankle sobbing, crying, and shrieking, "The baby is gone....the baby is gone!"
In the midst of the chaos, I found Katie Liuzza kneeling in the restroom with her hands between the patient's legs, holding her stillborn baby and keeping the baby from dropping into the toilet. Katie kept telling the mother that she had her baby and would not let anything happen to them. While Katie was there, she kept consoling the mother, sharing words of advice and comfort and just being present for this emotional time in this young woman's life. Katie was able to comfort this poor woman and shared her own intimate account of her personal struggle she had had with a recent pregnancy complication.
Katie was able to truly empathize with this mother. I could see their human connection change from nurse and patient to kindred souls sharing and growing in a bond created through the agonizing experience of motherly loss. Katie stayed with this mother, got her cleaned up, and helped her get back to her room. Katie stayed cool, calm, confident, and centered during the entire process. She was this patient's safe spot to rest on in her troubled time. Katie stayed with the mother for quite some time, talking with her and being present for her. She was able to research resources and give her support group numbers. Katie ensured that every single one of this patient's needs was met. Katie went above and beyond in this moment of patient care and showed us all in the ED a great standard to reach for on every single patient interaction.
I have had the honor of seeing Katie grow from a tele tech to an inspirational nurse who one day will be a CNO of a lucky facility. This young woman can always make her patients laugh and always makes whomever she is caring for laugh. She makes all her workers smile.
As this story demonstrates, she has the ability to connect to her patients on a personal level that many nurses are unable to do. She epitomizes the qualities that DAISY Award recipients possess.