Suzanna Young is one of the most amazing nurses I've come across. She not only has a great skill set being an RN, but her personality is one that not many have. She can communicate with nurses, doctors, therapists, etc. to help the progression of patient care, but she is then able to turn around and verbalize all the "medical words" into words that a patient and their family can easily understand and make the best decision moving forward in their care. When it comes to being relief charge nurse, she always puts patients and staff in the forefront of her mind. At times this comes to her taking report on a patient and settling them on the unit until another RN is in a better spot to take over. Sometimes that means she stays late to care for patients as well as helping the other day nurses finish up the day shift until night shift takes over.
Suzanna was charge with 2 floor RNs and 1 CNA. The floor RNs had 4-5 patients and were in the middle of discharging, so she made the conscious decision to assign a patient to herself. After reading a report on the patient and speaking with ED case manager, it was a difficult situation as the patient and family were wavering in the decision to begin palliative versus hospice cares. The hospice nurse and Suzanna spoke with the patient/family at length about options.
As the day progressed into the late afternoon the patient condition seemed to be deteriorating at a faster rate than previously expected. As Suzanna was waiting for more medications from the doctor to get processed, she sat in the room talking and holding the patient's hand to try and take their mind off the pain while I waited to pull the mediations as they were cleared by the pharmacy. The patient requested to use the bedside commode because they wanted to move as little as possible. Suzanna and I were able to transfer the patient multiple times, safely return to the bed in different positions for comfort.
The patient's family needed to leave for the evening. The patient was becoming more unstable and began crying. Suzanna took her work phone and clipboard into the room, sat next to the patient, talking about anything and everything, holding the patient's hand, and was charting her assessment/notes with the other hand, as well as fielding phone calls from the doctor about changes. I would check in every few minutes to see if anything was needed. Suzanna did not leave that patients side until night shift was ready for the report, medication changes were being made, and the doctor was on way re-evaluate the patients' needs at the bedside. Suzanna and the night SSC made the decision to call the family back to the hospital with the patient condition worsening and more decisions to be made.
Suzanna did all this for this patient/family, while also caring for another patient, being the charge nurse, making night shift assignments, and still assigning incoming patients.
I have worked with Suzanna for almost 3 years now and this is just 1 example of hundreds, possibly thousands, of lives that I've seen her care for with no hesitation in doing the right thing for her patients and their families. Suzanna gives everything she has mentally and physically daily to her patients, their families, co-workers, and to her family when she is not at the hospital. I believe that Suzanna is everything that the DAISY Award entails and that is why I have sat down to put it in writing.