When I think about nursing, and the type of nurse that each individual should strive to be in their career, I automatically think of Julia. She is the most compassionate, respectful, and intelligent nurse that I have ever had the privilege to work with and learn from. Being a new nurse in the MICU is a very scary and overwhelming feeling, but I was lucky enough to be able to start my nursing career with Julia by my side as my preceptor. Each day I was able to watch how she interacted with her patients and colleagues. If her coworkers need help, Julia is always the extra hands. If I was feeling defeated and discouraged after a tough day, Julia picked me up and encouraged me that tomorrow was a new day and things do get easier. Having a mentor who was able to teach without getting frustrated, correct you without making you feel like you're being punished, and was always positive and uplifting during difficult times made all the difference during my orientation. Working with Julia was an amazing learning experience and very, very fun. That is just a very small testament to the kind of person Julia is day in and day out toward everyone in the MICU.
I can recall a patient that Julia and I had together during one of my last weeks on orientation. He was an older man who was very hard of hearing with a lot of respiratory problems and a very poor prognosis. We had him for 3 days in a row and each day he seemed to get a little worse. Every day at 7AM, the yelling started. He'd scream, "Please let me die!" and "I want to die!" A situation like this can be very frustrating and defeating when you cannot redirect your patient and you can't quiet him. But instead of getting frustrated and defeated, I watched Julia walk into his room each time he started to get upset again. She held his hand, talked him through it and calmed him down. Sometimes it took five minutes to calm him, sometimes it took twenty, but no matter what Julia stayed with him. The trust that she was able to build with this patient was amazing. He would always tell her how grateful he was to have her there, how much he trusted her and he even at one point called her his angel. When his wife came in to visit him one night he asked for a picture with us. "Take a picture of me and my girls! I'll never forget them!" he said and then he looked right at Julia and said "You're the best nurse I've ever had, and I mean it. Thank you, I love you!" ?
Julia is so deserving of the DAISY Award because she truly loves helping people who cannot help themselves. She is a role model to her coworkers and patients. She has taught me so much in the short time that I have worked here, and I would love to send her my greatest thanks!