It has been my absolute pleasure getting to work with Jessica Skelton. She has a passion for her job that is evident in her daily work, she brings a smile to the table with every interaction, and she is solution-focused in her drive to pursue excellence. Specifically, Jessica was at home when at approximately 9 pm, a resident from another hospital contacted her. He notified her that there was a 15-year-old patient who came into care at their facility that evening with a newly diagnosed brain tumor that required emergent surgery because he was having vision changes. The problem was their hospital didn't have the appropriate instruments to perform the required surgery. Jessica didn't hesitate to jump into action to help this young patient and our colleagues across the state line. She contacted her Director to see if this was something that could be done; instruments are transferred back and forth between locations within The University of Kansas Health System all the time, but not to another organization.

Once she got the approval, she then took the initiative to make arrangements to get the instruments that were needed over to their hospital. She contacted the KU neurosurgery physicians on duty for the next day to confirm that they didn't have any problems sending the tray, checked the OR schedule to understand if there would be any competing priorities for these instruments here at the hospital, and she worked directly with the Cambridge OR team, Bell OR unit coordinator, and sterile processing staff to have the tray picked up, opened and counted, re-wrapped, and sent to this other hospital via courier. This level of effort to help a patient is extraordinary and is an example of what happens all the time at KU. However, this nurse was at home when this occurred; off the clock and on personal time. She dropped everything during her evening with her family to do what was right for this patient.

This personal attention to a patient she didn't even know demonstrates her commitment to exemplary care. And to make it more special, this patient wasn't even at our own hospital! Staff members like her define compassion and ethical decision making, always ensuring that the patient comes first - even when that patient isn't one of our own. The DAISY Award is a great honor that demonstrates exemplary compassion and care given by nurses. This nurse certainly is an example of that. I am proud to have her on my team and get to work with her each day.