Nancy Scheitlin RN, CMSRN DAISY award nomination May 2010

I believe what occurred on my unit with my staff is exactly what the DAISY award was created for. I would like to nominate Nancy for her compassion, excellence and reverence. Nancy is an excellent clinician as well as someone with great foresight. She supported a patient and family in their decision as a young adult was transferred to our unit as an end-of-life patient. The patient decided to get married on the unit, so his nurse got everyone on the unit together and decided to make this event one the family would not forget. What is a wedding without flowers and a cake? Nancy made a beautiful arrangement of flowers for the bride. She kept the pain nurse aware so she could keep the patient vey comfortable as well as alert to participate in the event. Our pain nurse provided a wedding card fro all to sign. Delmar, the Director of Dietary, made a wonderful basket of fruit, juices, and snacks for the family and also donated a large coconut cake for the celebration. Nancy helped make everything run smoothly for the newly wed couple and their family. It was a very emotional time for the family and the staff, and seeing everyone work together was amazing! Although the patient expired the next day, peacefully and his family and new wife who were by his aide were overwhelmed with the loving support of everyone involved in the patient’s final days on our unit. This was, indeed, an amazing expression of loving service and compassionate care. Fortunately for our unit this is what Nancy does on a daily basis. She seeks out opportunities to make the patient’s experience one to remember. You may be sick and in the hospital, but if Nancy is your nurse she makes you realize what a great day it is!