I am the son of BB who had a left knee replacement on Friday 3.21.14. BB (my Dad) is an 84-year-old man who has never spent the night in the hospital and never had major surgery. My Dad trained for 3 months for this surgery by attending classes and the gym to make sure that his knee arthroplasty would go perfectly. Drs. P and C provided him an exemplary level of care but on post op day 1, my dad became hypoxic from atelectasis. He was empirically started on heparin which resulted in a large thigh hematoma, requiring 2 units of RBCs. This side step took my dad's spirit away. He was incredibly dejected that despite his preparation, he had not progressed without complication. His nursing care was at a high standard throughout but on day 3 he had Keisha and I noticed a huge level of improvement in his spirit and outlook.

I am a physician (Radiologist) at Washington University in St. Louis. I am also a Professor who has been out of training for 20 years. I have also practiced at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital and volunteered at Yale New Haven. Over my 2 decades and 3 major teaching hospitals, I have never encountered a nurse with such a great spirit. Keisha clearly loves her job and boy, does it show. She offered my Dad a tremendous amount of respect and spoke to him as the Engineer that he is. She also made him feel that his requests were welcomed. Whether it was for juice or help in going to the bathroom, she offered him the aide as it was expected and made her happy. My Dad totally opened up to that and started getting out of bed because Keisha made him feel that it was the right thing to do. She also engaged me in a professional manner that is so weird being both a doctor and the son of a patient.

In addition to her compassion and her tremendous warmth, Keisha brought a sense of humor. She made both my Mom and my Dad laugh (first time postop). Last night my mom slept for the first time, knowing that his nursing care was so exceptional. I know that I still have a lot to learn in Medicine and Keisha reminded me of one of the basic tenets: the importance of compassionate patient-centered care.

Your team is incredibly lucky to have Keisha on board. For her knowledge and dedication to the patient, I nominate her for the DAISY Award. She took care of a dear man but has also impacted the way I will go and teach my residents. Without an iota of exaggeration, I can honestly tell you she ranks in the top 3 of the most amazing nurses (among the hundreds) I have seen.

Thank you for allowing me to express my gratitude and amazement, SSB, MD Professor of Radiology Chief of Section, Cardiothoracic Radiology Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology at Washington University in St. Louis, MO