Melissa, a nurse on SICU Bay 4, was nominated by a couple for whom the wife was a patient. So impressed by Melissa's care, the couple drove three hours for the DAISY presentation. Their nomination reads:



I am writing to you in regards to the care that my wife received while in the surgical ICU. My wife underwent a Chiari Malformation Decompression surgery. She was in the ICU for several days. The care that my wife received was top notch, and I want to mention the following names: Christian, Lydia, and Emily. I apologize for not knowing the last names of all the nurses. The care that my wife received the entire time she was in the ICU was no less than top notch. I was so impressed with every nurse that she had; all were very caring and compassionate. However, there was one nurse in particular that just blew both me and wife away with her attitude, caring nature and knowledge and wonderful personality. That nurse was Melissa Livesay.

Your department sees many sick people and those who truly have their lives in your hands. The effect that nurses have on the outcome of a patient's recovery is not lost on me. The nurses spend the most time with the patient and the mental attitude of the nurse and how that patient responds to nurses is vitally important to recovery. Not to mention the knowledge that the nurses in your department need to have in order to be effective the combination of knowledge and personal attention to care is a combination that is hard to find. Melissa has all of that and more.

While my wife was in the intensive care, Melissa took the time to talk to us, my wife, myself and our children about the nature of our visit. She took the time to talk to our son, who is a nursing student, about the different equipment in the room that was being used on my wife. She took the time to share personal stories that made us all feel like we were at home with a good friend. Knowing that your loved one is being cared for by someone that you really trust makes the whole experience of being in the hospital so much easier and I feel as does my wife, that it promotes the healing process.

One last little experience that I would like to share. The first night that my wife was in the ICU, I wandered into her room at 4:00 a.m. Melissa was in the process of washing my wife's hair. Since my wife had surgery on the back of her head and neck it was clearly an area that had to be handled with care. Melissa was being so careful and gentle. The fact that she would take the time, the effort to care for even my wife's hair care needs, knowing that she wouldn't be able to wash her hair for a couple of weeks following surgery was just unbelievable to me. My wife looked so relaxed even though she was less than 16 hours out of surgery. It was a huge load off my mind that the care was so awesome. As I said, the other nurses I mentioned were great. But Melissa went above and beyond. I truly believe that because of her bubbly personality and true enthusiasm for her job and gentle caring nature, my wife is recovering so well after such a traumatic surgery. The doctors and nurses at the University of Iowa were all top notch; Dr. Menezes is one in a million. My wife and I believe that Melissa Livesay is also one in a million and she deserves to be rewarded for her efforts.

Thank you very much.