I’ve had the pleasure of working with Rijada for two years now, and to say I’ve been in awe of her knowledge, skills, and ability to quickly assess a critical situation would be an understatement. It never fails that when she and I are working together, things always seem a little more “chaotic,” but I am forever grateful that she is always willing to jump in and is never afraid to advocate for her patients.

During one of our shifts together, I was in charge, and she was given a particularly heavy assignment. BOTH of her patients ended up being transferred to ICU…and all before 4 pm.

She made a meaningful difference in not one but two veterans' care that day.

Her first patient became unresponsive and required resuscitation. She responded immediately and effectively provided rescue ventilations, which resulted in the patient achieving ROSC. Many staff members arrived at the scene and her ability to control the room and take leadership is what made the difference in this patient getting transferred to the ICU promptly.

Her second patient was a quadriplegic whom she had taken care of a couple of days prior to this shift. She immediately noticed that, along with other worsening issues, his mentation was not what it was previously.

Her unit experience allowed her to provide excellent, appropriate care, and again, her ability to recognize deterioration early on ensured that this patient was transferred to a higher level of care before his decline.

Her first patient, the one who became unresponsive, ended up being transferred back to our unit a few weeks later after being downgraded from ICU care. He remembered her immediately. They fist-bumped and smiled throughout the rest of her shift.

Rijada is the type of nurse we all wish to have caring for our loved ones in their sickest moments. For the moments above, and many others I can’t possibly put into words, are why she should be nominated for the DAISY Award.