Carmen is such an amazing, caring nurse! She always comes to work in a good mood with a smile on her face. She has such a positive attitude despite certain circumstances such as a busy day with no lunch breaks, staffing shortages, etc.

Recently, we have had a patient on our unit that has been here long term (two months now) and has become a rotational patient. Most nurses on the unit have asked not to have this patient back, but Carmen has voluntarily taken this patient each day she is here and gladly volunteers to accept him back. I have watched her go into this patient’s room with a smile and spend quality time with him, despite having a heavy load, needing to do other tasks, or even giving up her lunch break to give him time to talk about his feelings and concerns. This patient has voiced how he can tell Carmen is a good nurse and truly does care about her patients.

Today at shift change, I witnessed Carmen taking the time to take this patient outside in a wheelchair to get fresh air. The patient stated this meant the world to him because he had not been outside since admission two months ago. He stated he knew she didn’t have the time considering she was orienting a new nurse, had four other patients, and it was the end of her shift. She still made time for this patient out of the kindness of her heart.

Carmen has shown the true meaning of human care and leads by example. She is the kind of nurse you’d want as your nurse or your family’s nurse if they were in the hospital. Carmen is always going above and beyond like this for patients and staff. I cannot think of anyone more deserving of this award than Carmen.