Mike Koenig, NP is a phenomenal Nurse as well as compassionate Nurse. His compassion serves him well as a Hospice/Palliative team member and caretaker of all those he encounters. His compassion is evident from the minute he meets every new patient. He starts his introduction with "Thank you for your service", and he means it. He enjoys when a veteran will share their military background and loves to be a part of their journey.
He always has a smile, a kind word and gives 100% when he is on the unit. Mike is the face and voice that patients see and hear when they find out they are dying. Mike has the very difficult job of allowing people to hear they are dying, and explain the philosophy of Hospice care. The very first time I had the opportunity to hear him share this information with a Veteran and the Veteran's family; I was in awe of his presence and compassion. He is able to provide and express compassion in very difficult times and families are so grateful to Mike for his honesty and his presence in their great time of distress. He will spend as much time as it takes and never hurries or rushes families into making a decision regarding admission to the hospice unit. He will return again and again if they need more information or just need to ask questions. He is also more than willing to give a tour of the unit if the family or veteran desires.
Mike will hold a patients hand, give them a hug and even when he has countless tasks left to do, he provides a presence that says 'you are my only priority'. He is intelligent beyond belief, but incredibly humble. When I am lucky enough to hear some of his stories from long ago, I get the privilege to find out things like how he was the first nurse to place PICC lines on the units. Mike will offer to pull up patients with me, answer call lights, stop for a bed alarm and has stated that he will help on the floor at any time if we just ask.
He has started many Peripheral IV's for the nurses when it becomes an impossible task as he "is a natural" and then spends the time to teach the nurses what he did to give us tips. Did I mention how "busy" he is? Never too busy to wipe a tear, hear a story, talk to patients about their families. He is present with everything he does. He is a great listener and motivator. He is that nurse that when a patient looks lost (They don't even have to ask for help) in the hall, he will stop and ask them if they need help and makes sure that whatever they need, he addresses it.
The DAISY Award was made for Mike Koenig. Most of us don't have time to nominate nurses for awards, but Mike makes time for everyone, so I want to make time for him and nominate him for being the most compassionate, attentive, responsive, intelligent, nice, as well as always going above and beyond, nurse.