As someone in the healthcare field, it is oftentimes hard to be a patient, and even harder to be the family member of a patient. We question many physicians' orders; we question the plan of care for those that we love and ask the nurse about every move they make. Back in September 2018, Jamie took care of my great-aunt. I remember getting the message from my mom the night S came in flown from Martinsville to CRMH, I rushed up to the CCU after my shift to check on her. We had a waiting room full of family members who had been waiting but had not yet gotten to see S. S's brother said a nurse had come out to the waiting room and given the family an update about an hour earlier.

I got back to the hospital early in the morning to wait in the waiting room with our family, the next day in the afternoon we finally got to go back to see S, but this was only after I had watched clinical administrators bring a red blood cooler, heard a call for MTP, and watched a resident run back with an ultrasound. It would not be until that afternoon that Jamie would explain to us all the tasks she had been busy doing, including therapeutic cooling and rewarming. A couple of days into S's stay, a doctor would come in and talk to us about choices for end of life and tell us about the strong possibility that S might not recover due to significant brain death. S's daughters had argued and disagreed about whether they wanted extraordinary measures done. Many teams cared for S, before or after my shifts I would try to visit and ask for an update, Jamie was the face that greeted me in the mornings with any news.

One day at work I got a text to come up to the CCU when I got a chance because S had been extubated. By some miracle, during morning rounds S had started to respond by blinking for "yes" and "no." It took several more days for S to have any purposeful movement and to be able to verbalize, but she did. Eventually, S graduated to a PCU and then to med-surg, and despite many obstacles and complications after a long stay was able to be discharged to a skilled nursing facility. Upon discharge, she left the hospital with a peg tube and wheelchair still needing lots of assistance.

We were able to have S home by Thanksgiving and for Christmas and New Year’s. A few weeks ago my parents came to town and took S out to enjoy one of her favorite things, oysters. S eats independently and ambulates on her own these days. She has almost no deficits even though she went through the wringer not too long ago. I can only attribute the miracle that is S, and her story to Jamie. Jamie worked her butt off the first few days in the CCU. Jamie broke things down for my non-healthcare family and answered many many questions for them. As a fellow nurse, I recognize and appreciate just how much Jamie did, and how wonderful and gracious she was while doing it. Jamie helped get my family through a trying time, and we are forever grateful!

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