Katie is beyond an exceptional nurse. She is a great resource, team player, hard-worker, mentor, and charge nurse. She is always willing to go above and beyond in any situation.

For more than 6 weeks we had a pregnant patient on our unit. This is not our typical patient population. Since we knew this patient was going to be here with us for a long period of time, it was decided that primary care nursing is best for this patient. Katie immediately volunteered to be one of the primary nurses for this patient. Katie bonded with the patient's family and took amazing care of this patient. She not only cared for the patient but was always there for the family as well. The patient was unresponsive, but Katie talked to her every time she went in the room like the patient was completely alert and oriented. The family told Katie that the patient loved country music. Katie brought her phone in the patient's room and left it in there playing country music for some music therapy for the patient. The patient did begin to respond a little bit more by the end of her stay, and Katie's voice was one that she would respond to.

The patient was transferred to 3EW and then after she delivered the baby, she went to the ICU and then came back to 5W. Upon her return, again, Katie jumped right in and was the patient's primary nurse. The patient was still minimally responsive, but Katie kept in constant contact with the family and always made sure the husband was up to date. He was only able to be here at nights due to his work schedule and caring for their son that they had at home. Katie thought it would be great for the patient to see and hold her baby. She obtained MD approval and then contacted the NICU to coordinate times that the patient could go see her beautiful daughter. I had called the husband to let him know that his wife would be able to go see her daughter and asked if he wanted Katie to wait for him to come in and the patient's husband was almost in tears. He was beyond excited that his wife would actually get to see and hold their baby. Even though she was still minimally responsive, Katie knew it would be the best healing process for this patient.

Katie waited until the husband came and together they took the patient to the NICU. The husband was so appreciative and thankful that Katie took the time to coordinate this and that she had so much compassion for the patient and their family. In the NICU, Katie cried with the husband because it was such a beautiful and amazing moment. The patient actually put her hand on the baby's back and rubbed it and also kept rubbing the baby's feet. Katie also reached out to the child life services for the patient's son that was at home and has not been able to see his mom. They provided the patient's husband with a packet that he could go over with his son.

I was so touched by Katie's action with this patient. She provided holistic care to the patient and to the family. Even though she had 3 patients, she made sure that she took time every time she cared for this patient to take her to the NICU to see and hold her daughter. She continued to do this, even when the husband was not able to go with them. Katie never thought twice about doing any of this.

Katie is often recognized by her peers and her patients for always going above and beyond. Her peers love when she is in charge because they know she always helps out and is willing to help with anything. She remains calm in all situations and is looked to as a resource and a positive mentor. She is devoted to her patients and her peers. She is her patient's advocate. The orientees she trains love working with her because she is so knowledgeable and such a great team player.

In addition to all of her hard work, Katie has been heading the CLABSI team within the unit. She has come up with great, innovative ideas to change the culture and have the best practice within the department. She has reached out to PEDS to follow their best practices. The changes will be implemented over the next month.