I had the privilege of being a very small part of a patient care situation that Margie took on with such passion and really made the patient's dying wish a possibility. We had a gentleman that was terminal and because he had an NG tube, for comfort measures he was being kept in the hospital and in the attempt to coordinate the care for his discharge it looked like SNF placement was going to be the end result.
Margie took this patient and his family to heart, as she does every patient on her unit, and ran with it. She started making phone calls to hospice and home care services that she has worked with in the past. Within two days a plan was discussed, agreed upon, and laid out for the family.
Being a patient advocate is something every nurse says that they will commit to do but sometimes when it becomes a little uncomfortable, or "no" is the only response that you seem to get, they tend to accept that and move on. Margie makes the impossible, possible. "No" is never the final answer with Margie. She comes up with an idea and usually can work with outside agencies to make it possible.
In this case, the only thing that could be provided to this gentleman was the peace of mind that he could be at home with his family at his side when he passed. Once this was known to Margie, she moved all obstacles in the way and within two days he was able to be moved home.
I have worked with Margie for my past 18 years here at EMC and this is just one of many situations that she has placed a critical part in to turn a situation around for the patient and their family. She goes above and beyond every single time she works. I feel the DAISY Award the perfect way to show Margie that she makes a huge difference by being just who she is.