Melissa is an amazing patient advocate. Every shift, every patient. I watch her, working alongside her for many of these hours, and I am inspired and influenced to keep going those extra steps, so that I can rise to her level of compassion.

This past spring in late April 2021, I watched her nursing excellence in action over the course of the weekend in a very dramatic fashion. On Saturday, she knew with her first assignment that her patient, who was also a nurse, and they had a rapport from previous shifts together, was complaining of a new pain and it seemed unexpected and unusual. Melissa took her findings to the fellow and staff doctors' attention asking for an abdominal X-ray. The medical team was not ready for X-rays but did make some changes to the care plan and she allowed the opportunity for those changes to work. However, immediately Sunday morning, Melissa knew that this excruciating pain was something beyond the expected side effects or complications with the patient's treatment. She asked again, and after waiting for rounds and subsequent orders to be entered, went back to demand the x-ray be performed, knowing this man needed one done now! The fellow came to find her afterward, taking her aside to let Melissa know that it was a bowel perfusion, and the patient was going to be headed for emergency surgery.

This first-year fellow made the family aware that their nurse had been such a strong advocate and also mentioned that they themselves could learn from Melissa's knowledge and nursing intuition. I know that the acknowledgment from the medical team meant a lot to her, but I also know fighting for her patient was her biggest priority and only purpose when she tenaciously continued to raise her concerns and assessment to the team. This might be dramatic, but it is not the first nor is it the last example of just how much a nurse like Melissa is an asset to her team.