It was 7am, the beginning of our shift and I had a patient who was rapidly deteriorating, requiring me to remain at the bedside. Cherish immediately came to me and asked if any of my other patients needed something urgently that she could take care of for me and told me to call her if something came up. After some time, while I'm still at the bedside of my critical patient, Cherish calls me to say she has passed meds on one of my other patients and gave me a quick update. It's now 10 am and I've just transferred my patient to the ICU. Any nurse will tell you that having a 3-hour crisis like that at 7 am can put you in the weeds for your whole day because now, you have other patients who haven't seen you and you have to get caught up. When I sit down to access my patients' charts, I see that not only has Cherish passed meds on more than one of my patients, she has also completed full head to toe assessments and has given PRN medicines to all of them when they've called.
Here's the thing, Cherish Keener is a new hire. While she has been a nurse for 12 years, she is new to UAMS and inpatient nursing and has only worked in this role for 2 months. That morning, the emergent situation was my only priority which left my other patients to be less prioritized. Cherish showed impeccable time management and critical thinking: recognizing a fellow RN was in a crisis, she ascertained that no other patient needed something urgently, she took care of her own patients and then assumed complete care for my patients. She gave me a complete update on each patient, informed me of all charting she had completed and then wanted us both to look over her work to assure nothing had been missed.
Because of her, my patients received the attention and care they deserved and I was able to fully focus on my critical patient. Again, she has only worked with us for two months. I am so thankful she is now a part of the UAMS-E7 staff. I've been an RN for over 7 years and I feel Cherish Keener is a true DAISY Nurse.