Maureen Murphy, RN, was nominated for the DAISY Award by a coworker for the care she provided to a particular patient. In the nomination the nurse wrote,
… Maureen Murphy was working in the ED of SLH when a Level 1 trauma patient arrived. This patient had been jogging near his home when he was shot in an apparent random act of violence. As the Med Star nurse, I also responded to the ED to assist with the trauma and was able to witness Maureen’s interaction with this gentleman from start to finish. ‘Mo’ worked efficiently and kindly, quickly accomplishing her important tasks of drawing blood, hanging IV fluids, etc. while she calmly conversed with the patient.
The decision was made to quickly take the patient to have emergency surgery. I helped Mo and the anesthesiologist whisk the patient off to the operating room. During that short walk I witnessed one of the most amazing acts of compassion by a nurse that I have seen in my career. When the patient was told that we would be taking him to the operating room, he asked, “Can I see my wife and daughter first?” The physicians informed him that due to his critical status there would be no time to stop. Mo offered to deliver his message. She assured him that we would tell his family that he loved them and that we would bring them to his side as soon as the surgery was over. She then said, “I’m going to give you a kiss and it’s from your wife and daughter.” She then leaned over and gently kissed the patient on the cheek. He thanked her for her kindness.
Unfortunately, the gentleman never made it out of surgery, but thanks to ‘Mo’ his last waking moments on this earth were filled with kindness, compassion, and love. Mo was his surrogate family during, what I’m sure, were probably the scariest moments of his life. She was his angel that day.
I work with Mo often and am always impressed with her work ethic and ability to be kind even when people don’t deserve it. On one particular night I went from being impressed to being blown away.