The Pediatric Emergency Department is an interesting place to work. On some days, it is filled with funny stories of cute little children treated for a small booboo other days resembling a very different world, you just never know what you’re going to experience! However, what keeps us coming back for more are the people we work with.

We realize our biggest impact and responsibility is in the education of the families that arrive at our doorsteps as well as to our partners in the field. We are committed to helping out with vaccine outreach programs such as Vaccinate Broward where we helped get kids caught up in their vaccines when they were delayed from the pandemic. Our team has also partnered with organizations that we help with simulation pediatric mock codes in our community emergency departments to help them with their pediatric readiness projects. We also have never stopped with our EMS Outreach education with Hollywood Fire Department and other EMS agencies where we constantly train with them in pediatric resuscitations. These activities have given birth to amazing programs such as Firefighter Fridays where some firefighters were able to come and bring cheer and joy to our inpatient and outpatient children. We were also able to benefit from their Raising Autism awareness project where they earmarked their profits from shirt sales for our Sensory project.

We are a tribe of people with different assets and a common skill set for saving lives. We are a tribe of nurses, patient care associates, doctors, respiratory therapists, social workers, child life specialists and secretaries, and environmental services teammates, who come together instinctively to respond to horrible traumas brought in by rescue with a five-minute ETA to lifeless children carried in by their frantic mothers. It is on such horrific days that we rise above the circumstances and shine with compassion and love.

One horrible day, last year, we responded to several trauma alerts. Our resuscitation efforts were futile. The power of compassion was the only thing that allowed our team to hold the family members who arrived post-trauma, and collapsed in our arms. Family-centeredness is ingrained in us. It is a part of our soul. We extended our expertise to the adult ED. We hugged and cried with our colleagues and for a moment, there was no divide between the pediatric and adult world. We became family that day. Our team came together and held hands right after the doctor pronounced, and had a moment of silence and asked for a blessing for the ones who were left behind. It is during the darkest moments that our team’s love shines the brightest. That is why the ED resembles the daisy flower…we blossom through the cracks. This is one example of what nurses in the pediatric emergency department experience along with record-level volumes. In 2022 the pediatric ED saw thousands of patients and experienced many traumas requiring expert-level care, teamwork, and compassion. We honor our Pediatric Emergency Department Nurses as our DAISY Team for their excellence in patient and family-centered care and absolute dedication to the community in which they serve.