We would like to nominate Tammy Borkowski from the ICU for the DAISY Award because of the exceptional compassion and dedication she shows to her patients, their loved ones, and her ICU team. What always impresses us the most is her genuine skill in advocating for and connecting with her patients while ensuring they are safe and well cared for clinically. She always steps up and leads by example, whether or not she is in charge that night. Tammy always handles any unstable patient, rapid response, cardiac arrest, admission, recovery, etc., with grace- sometimes making her own assignments more difficult in order to help out others.

This past week, Tammy was working her 3rd 12-hour night shift in a row and was scheduled to return from 3-7pm for an extra shift due to staffing needs. That morning, a young emergent OR patient was transferred to the ICU for recovery right before shift change, and he was in a lot of pain post-op. Tammy stayed with him past her scheduled time, medicated him, advocated for his needs, and offered emotional support and reassurance until he reported to her that he was comfortable. She impacted his care so much that the next day, he came back to the ICU to find her. He wanted to let her know how much he appreciated her kindness, compassion, and care after a hard, painful surgery.

After the bedside report, we found her, even longer after her scheduled time to leave, going into her CMO's patient room with supplies. She had promised her patient and her daughter that she would clean her up and remove the Purewick (which was to be placed only during the night). She knew how important this was to them and didn’t want to fail to follow through on things she'd promised. Then, at 3 pm, Tammy came back to work with a smile on her face.

This is just one example of what a shift is like working with Tammy. She consistently goes above and beyond and truly embodies all the PETALS that contribute to receiving the DAISY Award.