My brother had a total knee replacement and was assigned to room 334. My brother has intellectual disabilities so his needs are not quite the same as the average patient. We were blessed to have Steve as his nurse. During the first few minutes of the first conversation with Steve, he established respect and trust with my brother. He knew exactly how to talk with my brother and listen to his needs. Not everyone knows how to do that well. He calmed my brother's fears and helped him through times of meltdown. His constant warm encouragement helped make a painful, frightening situation much easier for my brother. I can't express my appreciation sufficiently for this remarkable young man. He's the best!
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Steve talks to me and helps. He listens a lot and cares about me getting better.
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Since starting at Lakewood Ranch last year, Steve has had a powerful impact on every patient he touches. Steve consistently gets compliments like those above. He seems to have a special gift to reach out and connect with the most difficult cases, those who are commonly misunderstood by others or who take a special amount of compassion and empathy. He is not deterred by patients who are tough to get through to and puts in extra effort to make sure that they feel safe and cared for. Steve can often be found kneeling at eye level with patients, holding their hand, or sitting in the room and performing therapeutic communication. It's actions like these that get through to his patients and let them know that they are not fighting alone, but they have a friend. These things are the essence of nursing but don't always come easy for us due to so many competing priorities. Steve has made it his practice to ensure he does this each time he cares for someone, making him a very deserving recipient of this DAISY Award.