Patrick has been a bright light to my friend P who has been battling cancer in 3 different places. My first interaction with him was pleasant and he made P feel like she was part of his family. He opened up to P and me about his life and family and most of all told jokes to lighten the mood. His compassion, integrity, excellence, and reverence were on full display as a nurse. He made sure that she was completely satisfied in all aspects of her care and made it a point to touch base whenever he had a free minute. He spent extra time to check on P's pain level. At one point, he called the doctor 3 times within a short period to ask for her medication level to be changed. She was in so much pain, but yet he took the initiative to see something was wrong and worked tirelessly to make her quality of life better. He demonstrated his excellence by going above and beyond giving medication and checking her well-being. He made her laugh, offered to put up color tiles to black out more light on her glass hospital doors and finally just making her smile. He demonstrated reverence by respecting her wishes and telling her stories about his life and reminding her how youthful she still is. Patrick made her feel comfortable and offered to get whatever she needed, even when not on shift. This is true compassion and integrity. Living the hospital's vision of taking care of patients while being someone who truly loves and cares about their patients.
For someone with cancer, P felt as Patrick made her feel like cancer didn't exist, if even for one day! We will take that.
Note: This is Patrick's 2nd DAISY Award!