Derrick Knudsen possesses clinical skills essential to the diverse specialty that is Cath Lab Nursing. More importantly, Derrick shares his expertise in a mentoring capacity to nursing students, medical students and nurses in training in the Cath Lab itself. His years of experience help to enrich the professional growth of the nurses in his area of expertise because Derrick is so generous with his time and personal attention to each person he comes into contact with.
Derek has helped me to grow professionally and has helped me to learn my role in Cath Lab department. That's not as easy as it sounds. There is so much to know in this fast paced environment and it can certainly feel overwhelming. Thanks in part to Derrick's patience, I have benefited from his mentoring and patient explanations of vascular interventions in both the heart and lower extremity patient intervention populations. It is a comfort to have such experienced and professional staff working in our department. Derrick never seeks the spotlight and instead uses his witty and oftentimes his self-deprecating sense of humor to praise others.
If patients only knew when they came in with a code STEMI how many things Derrick does in the background to keep them safe, I'm sure they would be nominating Derrick for a DAISY Award. His outstanding contributions to patient safety and staff development are greatly appreciated.