The patient's family and I would like to recognize Michele for her efforts and formally nominate her for a DAISY Award. She was caring for patient JMA in this unit, working the night shift as her bedside nurse. At the conclusion of her 12-hour shift, she stayed three additional hours unprompted to ensure the patient's safety, comfort, and reduced agitation and anxiety. She promised her that she'd stay with her until the decision was made to remove her breathing tube, and she did just that. JMA is well known to the ICU staff at Maryview. She has had multiple ICU admissions requiring lengthy stays that have required a breathing tube and ventilator. A recognizable factor in the patient's lengthy ICU stays has always been her anxiety. It is for this reason that this nurse sat at this patient's bedside for three hours. She was able to continually, 1-on-1, reassure the patient, comfort her, and hold her hand until the ICU team formally rounded and made the definitive decision to remove the breathing tube. At 10:30, the patient was successfully extubated while this nurse held her hand. On previous admissions, once this patient is extubated, she is known to be far less anxious. In following with this trend, the patient settled down immediately once her breathing tube was removed. Michele wouldn’t leave until her patient was comfortably resting. Without Michele’s selfless actions and attentiveness, the patient may have continued to demonstrate agitation, slowing or stopping the ability to successfully extubate her that day. In fact, with her help, the patient required no additional sedating medications, ensuring the best possible extubation outcome. This truly shows her devotion to patient and family-centered care. I informed the patient's daughter/decision maker of the selfless actions by this nurse and my intentions to nominate her for a DAISY Award.

Note: This is Michele's 2nd DAISY Award!