Thank you so much for the opportunity and platform to share the above nomination for a most deserving registered nurse in our Pediatric Emergency Department. Kelly Strickler was hired as a Care Partner nearly 8 years ago, and it was without a doubt one of the best hires of my career. There was no question about a position when she finished nursing school. In fact, I believe we sealed the deal in the dirty utility room during one of her Care Partner shifts! Time and time again she has displayed incredible warmth, maturity, and integrity of character.

During the height of COVID, she role-modeled excellence in teamwork by going way out of her comfort zone and supporting adult patients. She also advocated for bringing older teens and young adults into the pediatric ED to help decrease the load on our adult partners. The care that she renders to our children and their families has made her not only a team favorite but highly regarded throughout the ED and with our physician partners.

I want to highlight a recent event in our department. I have often spoken of the increase in our pediatric psychiatric population as the other wave of COVID. Our children have been through so much social upheaval, fear, and isolation and it has resulted in children ending their lives; our ED full of sadness, and children experiencing immense hopelessness. As a veteran nurse of nearly 40 years, I have never seen anything like it. In early July 2021, a male child we will call M was brought to our ED with his mom. This child was eight and had a history of ADHD, autism, was on the spectrum, and was very low functioning. He had become violent and aggressive at home and mom was afraid not only for herself but their new infant baby. It was a serious and terribly scary situation. The mom was so lost and exhausted.

Upon arrival, Kelly as charge nurse was made aware. She supported his primary nurse by connecting them with Child Life, using the tactile sensory cart and some toys that lit up. She took the time to ask mom what he liked, and they chose a tactile toy that had blue gel light in the base. This was incredibly soothing for him. She even worked with inpatient child life to get the child protected time on the 7th-floor deck. By taking the time to really get to know this family, Kelly knew he was often soothed by being outdoors. Kelly prepared the mom for a long arduous wait and decision-making process, but no one knew what was to come.

Kelly advocated with the attending for rapid treatment and placement of this child due to his aggressive and impulsive behavior. A psych consult was placed and the evaluation for admission occurred. The adult psychiatry team was covering as it was off hours on the weekend. The adult psychiatry team, although a highly skilled team, was not peds-centric. The decision was made to obtain a Temporary Detainment Order (TDO) and transfer the child to a state hospital. This was devastating for the mom.

Immediately, Kelly began to advocate for this child at every turn to find other resources to manage his current crisis. This included working with different attending physicians and high-level collaboration with the social workers, Richmond Behavioral Health, our psych liaison, the Nurse Manager on Call, and other members of a vast interdisciplinary team. Twelve hours later, Kelly secured resources with the community for this child and a safety plan was initiated for success at home. The TDO was lifted, and the child was not admitted to a state hospital. This family was able to stay together in a safe manner and mom and child were able to get the resources they needed. Despite much pressure from the community and our internal team, Kelly stayed the course and advocated for this family at every turn. It was uncomfortable, messy, and not everyone was on the same page. What sets Kelly apart from the pack is that she moved this team to be on the same page and never for an instant strayed from doing her best for M and his mom.

As Mom was leaving, she reached out and gave Kelly a big hug and said, "Thank you so much for helping us, you are so good at what you do." Patrick Barnes's family set up this foundation in his memory to celebrate and recognize Extraordinary Nurses everywhere that make a huge difference in the lives of those who may not be able to fully advocate for themselves. The family calls nurses "super-humans." I bring this nomination forward in the true spirit of what the Barnes family envisioned, recognition of an incredibly gifted, kind, and gentle nurse who did her best for a patient to fully support him and provide comfort, safety not only for him but for his family.