Our baby daughter turned 3 months today. In some ways, it feels like these three months have gone by so quickly, and yet in more ways, it's felt like we've had her much, much longer than that. As my wife and I continue to adjust to the lack of sleep and mental fog, one thing that has remained so vivid in our minds is how much of an absolute blessing Julie, our delivery nurse, was to us during our delivery at Orlando Health Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women and Babies (WPH).
Our experience at WPH was so positive, with every one of the staff showing a high level of compassion and kindness. Our nomination of Julie for this award is not indicative of any of the other nurses' lack, but rather indicative of just how much she shined brightly in an above and beyond manner. My wife went into labor on Saturday evening. Even with strong minute-long contractions less than 5 minutes apart, her body would not dilate beyond 2 CM for multiple days. By the time we were finally admitted in the middle of the night Tuesday, we had little left in the tank energy-wise. My wife got the epidural which allowed her to sleep some, and when we woke up in the morning Julie was just starting her shift.
What struck me immediately was the unique blend of kindness and warmth juxtaposed with an almost military-like "you've got a job to do (get this baby out), and we've got our job to do helping you do that" attitude. It was no surprise to us that she was a trainer and had someone underneath her, in training. Julie was so good at her craft that we did not sense even the slightest drop off in quality, neither in the quality of care we received from her trainee nor in Julie's attentiveness to us for having the role of trainer added to her shift. That's how excellent she was.
Looking over The DAISY Award material helps give words to our experience. I'd like to share just a few examples of the ways that Julie demonstrated the qualities of a DAISY Nurse. Julie listened to our concerns with respect and compassion. She answered our questions with evidence-based answers and straight forward rhetoric that both made sense and gave us confidence that she was shooting straight with us. She instructed her trainee while also looping us into the care in a way that showed a high level of both synergy and collaboration, showing shared leadership. There was meconium in the amniotic fluid, so when we finally did deliver, it felt like there were 20 people in the room (probably more realistically 8-9). Julie did such a great job of remaining connected to us while allowing the others to do their jobs and tasks.
All in all, Julie epitomized the term "Exemplary Practice", and was the cornerstone of our positive experience at WPH. She is a true DAISY Nurse.