Lisa has been taking care of our son since August of 2014. Throughout this time, Lisa has become a trusted extended family of ours. She does everything I expect a good nurse to do. She monitors his health, maintains an opaque trach and clean g-tube, stays on top of post-operative care, keeps his room and supplies clean, notices when something is not quite right and give professional advice on how to care for a child with special needs.
What makes her a great nurse is that she is also a caregiver who is acting as an extension of us, while we are at work, or teaching, playing feeding and cleaning him. Lisa is an experienced professional within the reach of our fingertips. She strives to continue to learn new things and is intellectually curious. We know we can depend on Lisa when we have to step out and do any errands or just need to take a rest in bed for a few more hours. Of course Lisa's a great nurse and home caregiver all in one.
What makes her even more deserving of the DAISY Award is what she does beyond being a great nurse. She thinks of fun, new ways to play with our son; sings to him, learns sign language with him, knows how to calm him when he is upset and knows when to let him ride out his tantrum. She takes him for walks and even makes him delicious Italian meals from home. What is even better is she also treats mom and dad to her delicious cookies.
The things we are most grateful for is that she gives us positive energy and good thoughts when things get tough, such as post op care issues or when our son comes down with a fever or infection. With Lisa as our primary nurse, our lives have become more enriched, a restored healthy balance of stress and we are able to be healthier well-beings with her in our lives.
And although this next mention may not seem like a big deal, she is an animal lover who gets along with my dogs. It has been difficult to lock my dogs away on days that I am home and cannot let them out to join the family because many nurses are not comfortable with them. But with Lisa, my dogs can comfortably join the family living quarters while I'm home and interact with our son, which means a lot to me - like a normal family enjoying the simple pleasures in life.
In so many ways, Lisa deserves a special recognition by PSA. She provides more than Trusted Care, she is an outstanding nurse and a person whose story should be shares with every nurse that works with children with special needs and how she has made such a huge difference with a family in need.