Kirsten is a relatively new nurse, (almost two years) and she is the "hugger" on the unit and always is asking if anyone needs help. Her patients love her for her happy demeanor and her attention to detail. For only being a nurse for 2 years she is very on top of what is going on and she is the nurse you want to see you're working with when you come to work.
On Friday, Kirsten was caring for a patient who had 2 procedures of stent placements in his few days since admission. Kirsten stated the physician was pending his discharge however the patient felt episodes of SOB while dressing that morning and Kirsten just felt something was off. She came to me to tell me what was going on, and I told her, "you know something isn't right, get objective data". She ambulated the patient, took vitals, spoke to the physicians, and said something is off. The physicians said he is ok, he is a past smoker and it is his COPD. Kirsten pushed for labs to be done, which they finally agreed to. They did a D-Dimer which was slightly elevated. So then they ordered a VQ scan. The patient's test showed he had bilateral PEs and immediately they started him on a heparin gtt.
Kirsten stood up for her patient, truly listened to her patient, was patient-focused. She went back to the physicians 3 times telling them something was "off". This is the kind, compassionate, teamworking nurse she is. The patients and the staff feel lucky to have her as part of our team. She is a DAISY Nurse and she would be the nurse I would want my loved ones to have.