The story I am about to share with you still brings tears to my eyes when I tell it, as it truly is the definition of what it means to go above and beyond for our patients. We had a patient on the floor for nearly 2 months. This patient and his wife came to visit from out of town as they were expecting a new grandchild. What was supposed to be a joyful vacation for this family, turned into one of heartache, as this patient quickly developed a new lung disease that would turn out to be fatal. After getting results showing this patient was not getting better, the patient and his family decided to pursue comfort measures, but sadly, he had not yet met his new grandbaby.

Katie Vandell was the nurse caring for this patient that day. Katie knew this patient had not yet met the baby and made a decision to do whatever it takes to make this first meeting happen. Due to the patient being on high levels of oxygen, he was unable to tolerate moving from the bed to a wheelchair to go outside, let alone tolerate not having pressurized oxygen. This meant the only way to get outside to meet his new grandbaby would be if someone wheeled him outside in his bed, with multiple tanks of oxygen to supply him with the oxygen he needed for the trip. This is just what Katie did. With the help of CNA T to get the patient ready, along with the help of our RT M to help with the oxygen, this amazing nurse and her team wheeled this patient outside to meet and hold his new grandchild for the first time. The next day, the family removed the oxygen from their loved one and he peacefully passed away. This act of kindness and devotion of time that Katie Vandell showed was truly remarkable and gave this family a moment of light and joy in an overall devastating situation. Thank you Katie for doing what you do. It is my honor to work alongside you.

Note: This is Katie's 2nd DAISY Award!