Most every shift we work together, Hallie tells me how cute her patient is. What this means is that she finds the "charm" or good qualities in her patients. We all know the challenges of caring for a physically, emotional and busy patient. She gets beyond this and finds a way to connect with her patients. Hallie's compassionate delivery of complex care often brings the best out in her co-workers, as well.
Hallie is famous for her "dolls." She makes these dolls for the confused little ladies who need something to hug. She has also set the confused or delirious patient up with towels to fold, knots to untie, word puzzles to do. Hallie's creativity to connect and engage patients helps to reduce their anxiety and assists in their healing process.
On many occasions, I will go looking for Hallie and find her behind the curtain of the room sitting and holding the hand of a confused or agitated patient or fixing someone's hair that has become knotted after several days in the ICU. She makes an effort to rearrange the ICU room so that the bed is facing the window, and her patient can look out and see clouds and sky rather than strangers walking by their room. Recently, we had a patient who was less than 60 years of age but had a life-limiting heart condition that initially had him on a ventilator. This patient improved to the point where he was able to communicate by writing. He was being kept alive by artificial means (ventilator, cardiac drips), but there was no hope that he would survive without these means. He had to tell us when he was ready to die, and we would make him comfort care and remove the things that were keeping him alive. The ICU staff provided compassionate care to this man and spent time talking with him and his extended family. There was a lot of anxiety to deal with and often little time to spend with him during a busy ICU shift. The day Hallie took care of him, I found her at his bedside reading chapters from a book. His eyes were closed, and he was relaxed and listening to her read.
The DAISY Award honors nurses who provide extraordinary compassionate care. This is a description of the everyday nursing that Hallie provides. Her compassion, skill, ingenuity, and sense of fun make her somebody I love working with. She is a true DAISY Nurse.