When I think of a DAISY Nurse, I can think of no better example than Dan. Below I have included a mere sampling of the reasons why Dan is a DAISY Nurse.
Passion- Dan has a passion for nursing and doing anything he can to help a patient, the whole patient: mind, body, and spirit. For example, Dan was assisting with a dressing change on a patient who was seeing his traumatic hand amputation site for the first time. This middle-aged male patient began crying when he saw his hand for the first time which had only 2 remaining fingers and ¼ of his palm remaining; and when Dan asked him what was wrong he replied, "my grandchildren will be so scared of me". Dan continued to support and talk to the patient. Knowing this patient had previously had an AKA, Dan asked him how his grandchildren reacted to that. The patient shared he thought the incision looked like a mouth so he had allowed his grandkids to draw a face on his stump and he used it as a puppet to get them used to it. Dan continued to talk with this patient and ultimately found out his youngest grandchild liked sharks. After obtaining permission from the patient, Dan drew a friendly shark face and mouth complete with teeth on the end of the patients ace wrap covering his hand. The patient was so happy when he discharged and was no longer fearful of how his grandkids would react to him. He went home with a shark puppet excited to show his grandkids all because Dan has a passion for what he does and compassion for his patients.
Empathy- Dan empathizes with his patients by sharing personal stories with them. He tells his patients that he too was an orthopedics patient so he knows a little bit about what they are going through. He wears a piece of the removed hardware from his own leg on his badge to show patients in addition to the scar on his leg. His patients react well to knowing that he understands some of the pain they are going through.
Trust- Dan gains the trust of his patients by getting to know them in an unconventional way. He chooses to ask his patients what their favorite flavor of pie is. It is something unexpected that he can bond with them over. He also takes a moment to share his favorite pie. He will be the first to tell you, he does not ask this question to his NPO patients. He also shares pictures and videos of his kids with patients to bond with them and make them smile or laugh while also asking about their families/reason to get well.
Admirable- I admire Dan. This past month it would have been easy for anyone to use being busy as an excuse. But he has never once complained. On multiple occasions, he has flexed up to take an extra patient, while still finding the time to help his peers as a team player. He also managed to find the time to take his patients downstairs for discharge or to go sit with a patient having an MRI because they were scared. Dan keeps a book of stories in his locker and he sat with this particular patient and read him stories from his book, so he wouldn't be scared of the MRI. He tackles new tasks head on and doesn't shy away from challenging circumstances. Today, we had a patient who required leech therapy, something Dan had never done before. He jumped in and excelled, but also took the time to google search fun facts about leeches to talk to his patient about. Did you know leeches have three rows of teeth, are hermaphrodites (mostly females that can fertilize each other's eggs), and have a mouth at each end of their body? Thanks to Dan, you do now!
Love- Dan has a love for all of his patients. He took a patient's dirty clothes (who had no other means) home one night and washed them and brought them back. But that wasn't all. The patient didn't have any shoes. Dan asked him what size he wore and the patient said size 13. Dan does not wear a 13 so he couldn't give him any of his own, but he asked around to his friends in his neighborhood and found someone who was willing to donate a pair of shoes to the patient. Dan returned the following day with clean clothes and a pair of shoes for this patient.
Selflessness- Dan is selfless in everything he does with his patients. He tries to make every moment special. He tells them jokes every single day! He literally has a joke of the day for his patients. Today's joke was "What did the buffalo say to his son leaving for college? Bi-SON! He buys his own specialty band-aids so when he removes a patient's IV line for discharge he can leave them with a "Cars" or "Minions" or "Princess" band-aid instead of a boring beige hospital bandaid. Dan is truly the epitome of a DAISY Nurse.