There have been countless patients and examples of what makes Slava Sonzonov a DAISY Nurse. We have a Russian patient who has been admitted to our unit several times. The family loves this nurse and recognized him for being so kind and caring. They also noted that his knowledge of the Russian language was great for their son's overall development. How many nurses can provide that level of personalized care? Another family thanked him for his patience and "sense of calm" as they were being admitted for the first time in a long journey in the CICU. They described him as "one of a kind". Being a male nurse, he often gets assigned to older boy/teen patients. He excels at providing quality care as well as meeting their individual needs in a way that female nurses wouldn't be able to. One teen boy told him, "When I see you, you make me smile". He felt most comfortable and at ease when he was his nurse.
Recently, we had a very complex, end of life situation with a teen boy. This particular patient was with us in the CICU for a very long time dealing with end of life issues. While all the nurses took excellent care of him, Slava went above and beyond caring and advocating for him. One weekend, in particular, the patient's goal for the day was to take a shower. He said that while walks in the garden were nice, he really just wanted to take a shower. Not only did Slava arrange for that, but he also did it independently. I was the charge nurse that day in a very busy unit. If I had to arrange for the patient to travel somewhere and take a shower, it probably would not have gotten done. One hurdle was there was no empty bed on the CSU to take a shower. Slava kept watch and when a bed opened up at the end of the day, he arranged for the patient to take a shower. He also made sure EVS was called after the shower so that they could clean the room in preparation for the next patient. He met the needs of this patient without assistance from the charge nurse in either unit on an extremely busy day. I know the patient was so grateful for that shower and I was so grateful he took the initiative! Slava is such an asset to our unit, our patients, and CHOA.