Nicole started with us last September and has been a wonderful addition to our staff. Her diligence as a care provider is only matched by her friendliness. She has a true team-oriented approach and is the first to put her hand up to help a coworker or patient in need. This has been readily apparent during her time here but struck me, particularly on a recent shift this month. During that shift, I was discharging an 85-year-old man who had been readmitted with a small bowel obstruction after having had surgery the week prior. The son saw her when he came up to take him home and receive instructions. He immediately lit up upon seeing her, even addressing her by name. I mentioned it to the son, and he said, "Well, when it comes to nurses, you always remember the great ones, and she's one of them." He continued to wax on about Nicole, specifically mentioning how comfortable she had made him to leave his father in our care.

Later in that shift, I saw Nicole's expertise in action with one of her assigned patients. Her attention to detail and willingness to wonder with patients allowed her to catch a wound care issue with a patient other staff might deem difficult or particular. The patient was admitted to PAH with issues related to a superinfected (infectious disease's phrase, not mine) non-healing thigh wound that came about because of polysubstance abuse related to cutting fentanyl with xylazine, an increasing issue that has resulted in a public safety warning from the DEA. During her two weeks in the hospital for IV antibiotic treatment, this patient has required daily wound care, but she has resisted help from nurses and insisted on doing it herself. Many nurses just provided the necessary items to honor the patient's request. Not Nicole. She dug deeper. She sat with the patient and learned the reason she didn't want someone else to do the wound care was that it was painful so she wanted to do it herself. Nicole met her halfway, indicating that was fine, but asking to watch her do it to ensure proper adherence to wound care recommendations. In so doing, Nicole discovered the patient had been applying Dakins solution correctly but had then been placing dry gauze directly to the wound instead of oil emulsion gauze as ordered. Thus, on next change, the dressing was adhering to the patient's wound, causing not only pain with removal, but also potential setbacks in healing. Nicole was able to provide this feedback to the patient, and also able to correct her use of tape to adhere her dressing instead of rolled kerlix (another intervention that can lessen pain on removal). Far from being "difficult," the patient was quite receptive to the instruction. I rounded on the patient in the afternoon, and again, I was met with raves about Nicole's care because "she took the time to help me learn how to help myself." The patient has been on methadone for six months and reports staying clean during that time. Experiencing empathetic support from someone like Nicole on that road of recovery is a small detail with potential monumental benefits.

Thank you for considering Nicole for this award. Please know these are just two instances I noticed within the span of an hour on just one shift. Her impact is tremendous. She is an adept and empathetic nurse who elevates the practice on our floor and the quality of our care. She brightens every shift, and I'm so delighted to work with her for my own sake and the sake of our patients.