Courtney Pullen is a rock star ICU nurse on our unit. She brings sunshine and smiles every day that she comes to work. Her first year here, she fittingly took the lead of the "Sunshine club" on the unit. The Sunshine club collects and provides 5 East staff with thoughtful, kind little gestures when someone is: having a baby, suffering the loss of a loved one, getting married, etc.

Courtney has also been instrumental in the growth of the Comfort Care program on 5 East. She has organized workshops, expanded a comfort care mentorship program and educated new staff about comfort care. In addition to this she has coordinated a program that enlists volunteers to help make wonderful quilts for our patients who are placed on comfort care. Together with the volunteers, quilts are created that are gorgeous, sentimental comforting reminders of "being at home" during this very emotionally difficult time in our ICU. These extracurricular activities are in addition to the fact that Courtney is an outstanding nurse who is extremely knowledgeable and proficient in her job and an exceptional preceptor for new nurses. Courtney is positive and professional and always takes time to encourage and mentor new nurses, even long after she is finished being their preceptor.

Courtney is compassionate about EVERY patient she cares for and is ALWAYS a strong patient advocate. Her warm, comforting, calming demeanor and CAN DO attitude have really made a positive difference in the way patients and families experience their time on our unit. Courtney cares about her patients, their families, and her coworkers. I love when Courtney is one of my "neighbor nurses," because she goes above and beyond to help. She is an invaluable member to our unit and she very much deserves this prestigious DAISY Award.