Latonia exhibits the kind of care and compassion associated with this award on a daily basis; however, she recently went above and beyond for one of our families.
In our clinic we have several Spanish-speaking families that require the assistance of our hospital translation services. With many of these families, it is difficult to build relationships as you always need “a middle man”. One family had a very young daughter who was diagnosed with leukemia. Latonia quickly became a favorite nurse for this child and family. She loved to play with the young girl while she was here for treatments and eventually started learning some Spanish (from the child and from the mother). Latonia developed a strong bond with this family and provided their nursing care whenever possible. Unfortunately, only a year into treatment, this young girl relapsed. She was sent to MUSC for transplant which was unsuccessful. She was returned to our center for palliative care. Knowing the inevitable outcome, Latonia went out of her way to make sure every clinic experience was special for the child and her parents. The parents were immigrants and had not found much community support since their arrival here. Latonia often called the family at home to check on the child and to see if they needed anything. As it became evident that the child was not going to survive much longer, Latonia and other staff members at the clinic wanted to create some opportunities for special memories for this family. They organized a day for the child to see a private showing of a movie at Columbiana Grande. Neither of the parents nor the child had ever been to a movie theater before. The staff at Columbiana Grande heard that our patient very much considered herself a princess, so they rolled out the red carpet and one of their staff members dressed in her own ball gown and greeted them at the door. They then allowed the child to play one of her own Spanish version Barbie DVDs in the theater!
After the movie, a limousine drove the child and her parents to the zoo where Latonia met them and they had behind the scenes access to the animals. No one in the family had ever been to a zoo before. They all thoroughly enjoyed themselves. The parents have conveyed to us how special the day was for them and for their daughter. Only a few weeks later, the child lost her battle to leukemia.
I feel that Latonia Manigo is deserving of a DAISY Award not only because she organized a very special day for a patient and her family, but because she truly gave of herself and her time. Working with patients who have life-limiting illnesses is very stressful to all staff and physicians who dedicate their career to this type of work. Many of us often keep an emotional barrier up as a necessary means to prevent burn-out. Knowing the inevitable outcome for this child, Latonia opened her heart to this family and looked for ways to create special memories for them. I am honored to have her on my team.