Darla Lynch inspires the best in me and my nursing practice. She exemplifies what it is to be a DAISY Nurse every shift through her compassion, integrity, respect, collaboration, leadership, excellence, and stewardship.
Darla's compassion can be seen daily with her infectious smile and over-all positivity towards her patient's and her colleagues. She can often be seen sharing a laugh with those near her. Darla is also often seen holding a hand or offering a hug to patients or their families going through a tough moment.
Darla is the type of nurse who when she says she will do something, you can always count on it to be done. She shows integrity by being reliable and offering a helping hand to her colleagues.
While Darla is always respectful to others, Darla is also well respected. She represents a leader on our unit and I always feel supported when I am working with her. She does not lose her cool when faced with challenging patients and always finds a way to turn a patient's bad day into a good one.
I recall a day when one of Darla's patients was not doing well. This patient had to be transferred to the ICU. Darla assisted with transport of this patient. Family also accompanied the patient during transport. Some of the family members, in dealing with the rapid decline of their loved one, became hysterical. They were yelling at the ICU nurses and generally getting out of hand. A lesser nurse would have given a wave, said, "See ya", walked away and let the ICU nurses handle the family. After all, report had been given. It was the ICU nurses' problem now, but not Darla. Darla, having gotten to know the family during her care of their family member, stayed. She was able to get the family members away from the room so that the ICU nurses could do their job to stabilize the patient. She sat with the anxious family members and talked to them and made them feel assured that their family member was in the best place she could be. As a result, the family felt supported and the ICU nurses were able to complete their jobs. Her stewardship in this situation allowed her to not only calm this family, but prior to the transfer, Darla displayed excellence in nursing in her ability to assess the need for higher level of care. Her instincts allowed her to see that her patient was decompensating and in doing so possibly prevented a major complication.
When I grow up, I want to be like Darla. You should want to be like Darla, too. She is a true DAISY Nurse.