Toby
Meeks
December 2011
Toby
Meeks
,
RN
Post Anesthesia Care Unit
Medical Center
Macon
,
GA
United States
I would like to nominate Toby Meeks RN, BSN who personifies the spirit of the DAISY Award.
On April 4, 2011, I as well as several other PACU staff members observed Toby take care of a 22 yr old patient with special needs (who had the mind of a 5-7 yr old). The patient was from a group home without any family or familiar faces present during his hospitalization and had been on a floor all night restrained, crying, agitated, in pain, and very scared. The patient needed constant supervision and was placed on a bed that for his protection was enclosed with a tent.
Post-operatively the patient became very agitated from 1) being in a strange environment and 2) being enclosed. Toby was not the patient’s nurse but witnessed his pregnant co-worker trying to calm the patient who was at that time being combative. Toby immediately relieved his co-worker and assumed the care of the patient. Toby literally got in the bed with the patient and held him until he calmed down. He also coaxed the patient by gently rubbing his head and by speaking to him softly.
After the patient calmed down, Toby opened the tent which looked like and probably felt like a cage and removed the patient and assisted him to a wheelchair. The patient displayed a huge smile and reached out to Toby for a hug and waved bye to the rest of us. It was like seeing a completely different patient. Toby wheeled the patient around until his recovery period was up. We were all in awe of the care, and compassion that Toby displayed that many of us were moved to tears by the difference that his actions made and by the way the patient responded. Throughout the patient’s stay in PACU, Toby never showed any signs of frustration and he truly put the patient First. Toby is an inspiration to us all and the care that he gives to his patients is unquestionably the best that I have ever seen.
Picture (L to R)
Tena Barnes Carraher, Toby Meeks,RN, Dawn Cole, RN, AVP; Judy Paull, RN, CNO
On April 4, 2011, I as well as several other PACU staff members observed Toby take care of a 22 yr old patient with special needs (who had the mind of a 5-7 yr old). The patient was from a group home without any family or familiar faces present during his hospitalization and had been on a floor all night restrained, crying, agitated, in pain, and very scared. The patient needed constant supervision and was placed on a bed that for his protection was enclosed with a tent.
Post-operatively the patient became very agitated from 1) being in a strange environment and 2) being enclosed. Toby was not the patient’s nurse but witnessed his pregnant co-worker trying to calm the patient who was at that time being combative. Toby immediately relieved his co-worker and assumed the care of the patient. Toby literally got in the bed with the patient and held him until he calmed down. He also coaxed the patient by gently rubbing his head and by speaking to him softly.
After the patient calmed down, Toby opened the tent which looked like and probably felt like a cage and removed the patient and assisted him to a wheelchair. The patient displayed a huge smile and reached out to Toby for a hug and waved bye to the rest of us. It was like seeing a completely different patient. Toby wheeled the patient around until his recovery period was up. We were all in awe of the care, and compassion that Toby displayed that many of us were moved to tears by the difference that his actions made and by the way the patient responded. Throughout the patient’s stay in PACU, Toby never showed any signs of frustration and he truly put the patient First. Toby is an inspiration to us all and the care that he gives to his patients is unquestionably the best that I have ever seen.
Picture (L to R)
Tena Barnes Carraher, Toby Meeks,RN, Dawn Cole, RN, AVP; Judy Paull, RN, CNO