Emily Magerman
December 2022
Emily
Magerman
,
BSN, RN
Hospice
Grand View Health
Sellersville
,
PA
United States
One day early on in her care Emily came up with the idea to purchase birthday cards for the patient’s daughter and help her fill them out...This would allow her daughter to continue to receive cards from her mom after she was gone.
I want to nominate Emily Magerman for The DAISY Award for her work as a hospice nurse. Recently, we had a young woman pass away on services. This was a tough case from start to finish for many reasons.
Our hospice department cares for individuals of all ages at the end of life. It is not often that we care for children or younger individuals. When we receive referrals for younger patients, we ask the team if anyone is willing to step up and take the case. Caring for dying patients takes a toll on the different team members but when they are younger sometimes it hits a little closer to home.
When we received the referral, we started with the nurses by giving them some background information about the case. We let them know that the patient was a woman in her early 30s that had a young child at home. Emily quickly responded and stated she would take this patient on. We immediately called her and explained the case, because we knew it would be an emotionally hard case. Emily was newly pregnant and has a young daughter at home. The management team wanted to make sure that she would be okay to handle what comes with this case. Again, Emily quickly stated that she would like to take the case. Not only did Emily care for her physical symptoms, but her mental and emotional matters as well.
Emily’s patient was diagnosed about 4 years ago at her 6-week postpartum visit after the birth of her daughter. After fighting for roughly 4 years, she made the decision to sign onto hospice. It was a tough transition and the patient struggled deeply on so many levels. From the beginning, she would not allow Emily to assess her open wounds from her cancer and she struggled with her prognosis. Emily walked into this woman’s life at the most vulnerable time. This individual had concerns about her four-year-old daughter and what would happen after she was gone. Each day Emily cared not only for this woman but her whole family.
One day early on in her care Emily came up with the idea to purchase birthday cards for the patient’s daughter and help her fill them out. The plan was to fill out a card for each of her daughter’s birthdays and for her husband to give to her daughter. This would allow her daughter to continue to receive cards from her mom after she was gone. If time permitted, Emily was going to help fill out cards for each life event that her daughter may have, such as graduation, wedding day, and so forth. When she brought this idea to her supervisors, she had planned to not only go to the store and pick out these cards but pay for them with her own money. Emily was not only treating her symptoms but the whole person. She knew that she needed to make the last days of her life meaningful and to help her patient get to a place where she was at peace.
Our hospice department cares for individuals of all ages at the end of life. It is not often that we care for children or younger individuals. When we receive referrals for younger patients, we ask the team if anyone is willing to step up and take the case. Caring for dying patients takes a toll on the different team members but when they are younger sometimes it hits a little closer to home.
When we received the referral, we started with the nurses by giving them some background information about the case. We let them know that the patient was a woman in her early 30s that had a young child at home. Emily quickly responded and stated she would take this patient on. We immediately called her and explained the case, because we knew it would be an emotionally hard case. Emily was newly pregnant and has a young daughter at home. The management team wanted to make sure that she would be okay to handle what comes with this case. Again, Emily quickly stated that she would like to take the case. Not only did Emily care for her physical symptoms, but her mental and emotional matters as well.
Emily’s patient was diagnosed about 4 years ago at her 6-week postpartum visit after the birth of her daughter. After fighting for roughly 4 years, she made the decision to sign onto hospice. It was a tough transition and the patient struggled deeply on so many levels. From the beginning, she would not allow Emily to assess her open wounds from her cancer and she struggled with her prognosis. Emily walked into this woman’s life at the most vulnerable time. This individual had concerns about her four-year-old daughter and what would happen after she was gone. Each day Emily cared not only for this woman but her whole family.
One day early on in her care Emily came up with the idea to purchase birthday cards for the patient’s daughter and help her fill them out. The plan was to fill out a card for each of her daughter’s birthdays and for her husband to give to her daughter. This would allow her daughter to continue to receive cards from her mom after she was gone. If time permitted, Emily was going to help fill out cards for each life event that her daughter may have, such as graduation, wedding day, and so forth. When she brought this idea to her supervisors, she had planned to not only go to the store and pick out these cards but pay for them with her own money. Emily was not only treating her symptoms but the whole person. She knew that she needed to make the last days of her life meaningful and to help her patient get to a place where she was at peace.