During the month of December 2021, I had an opportunity to get to know many of the nurses on the 4 South Transplant Unit at St Luke's Boise when my husband received a stem cell transplant. Each nurse, in their own way, was exceptional. However, there was one nurse who went above and beyond.

We first met Sara B during the Stem Cell Transplant procedure, called day ZERO in the transplant world. Sara was part of the team assigned to my husband during the lengthy process of reintroducing his stem cells back into his body. Sara was professional, kind, and eager to make sure we were not just observers to this event. She thoroughly explained every step and even took out her cell phone to place a backlight behind the tubing so we could watch the stem cells travel through the line. It is a vision I will never forget. The kindness in Sara's face as she said, "Can you see them?? Aren't they beautiful?" She even let me take a short video with my phone to send to our children. I will never forget seeing those tiny glittering cells of life which were going to breathe more cancer-free life into my husband. I am grateful to Sara for going above and beyond in inviting us into the process by using her phone flashlight to show us the cells. That small gesture meant so much. Later that day, my husband was sent home as an outpatient to recover from Transplant at home with daily visits back to the clinic.

On day 8 of recovery at home, he needed a platelet transfusion at the outpatient clinic and unfortunately suffered a severe reaction and was admitted to 4 South. Having to be admitted to the hospital was difficult for him and he was undergoing many things physically and emotionally. Physically, the staff were addressing his symptoms, but I was watching him become emotionally defeated. That is until Sara was assigned to him again. It was as though Sara recognized his emotional state and knew how to help. She did something no one else had done previously. She posted a whiteboard in his room with a chart that displayed each day's labs so he could visually see the progress he was making. She did this retroactively for a few days with spaces for future dates and lab values needed to go home. In my husband's fatigue and mental stress, he could look up at the wall from his bed and SEE the increase in his platelets and neutrophils daily. It gave him hope and at that moment, he became a partner in his own care. She would excitedly run into the room as the lab values increased and share the good news and write them on the board.

The DAISY Award is for Nurses who make a powerful difference in patient care. Sara did just that. Although someone like Sara might see her actions as just ordinary, they were nothing less than extraordinary. She took the time on 2 separate occasions to make my husband a partner in the process and empowered him. In a time when nurses are so very busy with a multitude of tasks, Sara went above and beyond to make sure his emotional needs were being addressed and she did so with nursing awareness in seeing the whole person, and with genuine human compassion.