Nitza Rodriguez
July 2024
Nitza
Rodriguez
,
RN, BSN
ED
Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health
Lancaster
,
PA
United States
Nitza spent easily 9 hours with this patient due to the severity of her injuries. Her story was so incredibly tragic that it was difficult for everyone involved to know what this patient had endured, but Nitza was present the entire time.
l am nominating Nitza Rodriguez, Emergency Department RN, for the DAISY Award mostly because of the compassion that she has for her patients, her empathy towards her patients' families, as well as her professionalism while working with community professionals. Nitza and I have worked together so many times and with many different patients, but one patient continues to define Nitza's commitment and proof that she is so incredibly kind and compassionate in the hardest circumstances.
In December, a patient arrived at the ED as a trauma alert, and Nitza was the primary RN in the trauma bay. This pt. was a victim of a brutal physical and sexual assault as well as being held captive. This same patient then needed a SAFE exam, and Nitza was also the SAFE RN. The patient was minimally responsive while in the ED, but Nitza talked with her and explained everything to her throughout the entire process of her workup and examination. Nitza spent easily 9 hours with this patient due to the severity of her injuries. Her story was so incredibly tragic that it was difficult for everyone involved to know what this patient had endured, but Nitza was present the entire time. Police were present, detectives were calling in, and Nitza and I, along with the police, were all doing everything possible to support this patient along with her daughter. Nitza was empathetic, compassionate, and appropriately emotional with everyone with whom she interacted.
We both went up to the floor, approximately a week later, to see the patient. Even though she didn't remember much of anything from her ED experience, she knew right away that Nitza took such good care of her and wanted to do everything possible to assure her safety and dignity. This is a patient that both Nitza and I will always remember, not because of her tragedy but because we were able to see her as a person and knew that this was not going to be her story, and we truly wanted the best outcome for her. This is just one patient that Nitza cared for, she puts in the same energy for every single patient, she doesn't do it for any type of recognition but because that is who she is as a nurse.
In December, a patient arrived at the ED as a trauma alert, and Nitza was the primary RN in the trauma bay. This pt. was a victim of a brutal physical and sexual assault as well as being held captive. This same patient then needed a SAFE exam, and Nitza was also the SAFE RN. The patient was minimally responsive while in the ED, but Nitza talked with her and explained everything to her throughout the entire process of her workup and examination. Nitza spent easily 9 hours with this patient due to the severity of her injuries. Her story was so incredibly tragic that it was difficult for everyone involved to know what this patient had endured, but Nitza was present the entire time. Police were present, detectives were calling in, and Nitza and I, along with the police, were all doing everything possible to support this patient along with her daughter. Nitza was empathetic, compassionate, and appropriately emotional with everyone with whom she interacted.
We both went up to the floor, approximately a week later, to see the patient. Even though she didn't remember much of anything from her ED experience, she knew right away that Nitza took such good care of her and wanted to do everything possible to assure her safety and dignity. This is a patient that both Nitza and I will always remember, not because of her tragedy but because we were able to see her as a person and knew that this was not going to be her story, and we truly wanted the best outcome for her. This is just one patient that Nitza cared for, she puts in the same energy for every single patient, she doesn't do it for any type of recognition but because that is who she is as a nurse.