Mary Seaman
March 2023
Mary
Seaman
,
AAS, RN
Medical Intensive Care Unit (MICU)
Long Island Jewish Medical Center
New Hyde Park
,
NY
United States
She absolutely honored his human spirit with dignity and respect, which he surely remembers.
This DAISY Award nomination is long overdue. As the new year started, I resolved to finally write this letter of nomination for my fellow nurse, Mary Seaman. Mary has worked at LIJ for over 30 years and has deserved this award a long time back. She is the perfect example of someone who provides extraordinary and compassionate care. She always comes to work early with great enthusiasm, leaves work late after everything has been taken care of, and helps her fellow nurses who might be busy due to their difficult assignments. She is very dependable and shows immense teamwork every time. In addition, she would call in the middle of the night to see how her patients are doing and to make sure we don’t have any questions for her on the night shift. These are all of Mary’s qualities that everyone knows in the MICU.
But I saw Mary in action as a nurse when she was caring for my father last year. He is an 80-year-old man and ended up coming through the ED with new CHF exacerbation twice within 2 weeks in February last year. He was in MICU on the monitor, and we saw that he was bradycardic during both admissions. However, when any doctor came to see him, he looked comfortable in bed without any distress, so his bradycardia was never a major concern. However, I had noticed that when he ambulated at home, he would become short of breath and unable to walk for more than a few feet. One day when the cardiologist came to see him, I mentioned this condition to him but as usual, the doctor said he looked fine and of course my father stated, he felt fine as he lay in bed when asked, “How are you doing?” I suggested we could get him out of bed and if the doctor can watch him ambulate. He did not seem very interested but Mary right away said we can do that and went and got the portable monitor that is used to transport patients. My father walked into the hallway and was noted to have second-degree heart block on the monitor and was huffing and puffing. The cardiologist agreed and scheduled him for a pacemaker the next day.
Since his placement of the pacemaker, he is doing much better and has not been in the ED!! Besides this, there are so many small gestures that she shows for her patients, keeping in mind their different cultures and beliefs. She made sure my dad had his preferred food and called dietary herself. She made a difference in his life, literally. My father who has some dementia and memory loss often asks about Mary. She absolutely honored his human spirit with dignity and respect, which he surely remembers. I am nominating Mary not only as her peer but also as a very grateful patient’s family. Mary is a true DAISY Nurse.
But I saw Mary in action as a nurse when she was caring for my father last year. He is an 80-year-old man and ended up coming through the ED with new CHF exacerbation twice within 2 weeks in February last year. He was in MICU on the monitor, and we saw that he was bradycardic during both admissions. However, when any doctor came to see him, he looked comfortable in bed without any distress, so his bradycardia was never a major concern. However, I had noticed that when he ambulated at home, he would become short of breath and unable to walk for more than a few feet. One day when the cardiologist came to see him, I mentioned this condition to him but as usual, the doctor said he looked fine and of course my father stated, he felt fine as he lay in bed when asked, “How are you doing?” I suggested we could get him out of bed and if the doctor can watch him ambulate. He did not seem very interested but Mary right away said we can do that and went and got the portable monitor that is used to transport patients. My father walked into the hallway and was noted to have second-degree heart block on the monitor and was huffing and puffing. The cardiologist agreed and scheduled him for a pacemaker the next day.
Since his placement of the pacemaker, he is doing much better and has not been in the ED!! Besides this, there are so many small gestures that she shows for her patients, keeping in mind their different cultures and beliefs. She made sure my dad had his preferred food and called dietary herself. She made a difference in his life, literally. My father who has some dementia and memory loss often asks about Mary. She absolutely honored his human spirit with dignity and respect, which he surely remembers. I am nominating Mary not only as her peer but also as a very grateful patient’s family. Mary is a true DAISY Nurse.