This semester, I was part of a clinical group at Chilton Medical Center, and Professor Taylor was our instructor. We couldn’t log into the Epic system on the first day of clinical to administer medications correctly or see patient charts without her personal supervision, but that didn’t prevent her from urging us to administer medications during that shift. We did, and she walked us through every step. Some of us had never administered a medication without a professor handholding them through it in clinical before. That day, we all did. It was a sign of what was to come for us the whole semester, and it was a good one. We had our struggles. Sometimes patients wouldn’t agree to have us assess them or give medications because they didn’t like students. Prof. Taylor encouraged us to try anyways, and if the patient gave us problems, she simply found another one for us to work with.

Several of us missed Clinicals due to illness, but she was understanding and made sure to give us patients that would help us catch up on the skills we’d missed when we returned. When the floor we were on was understaffed, she advocated to allow us to pass meds for our nurses as many times as we could, and she urged us to answer call bells without her supervision as long as the situation didn’t call for something out of our scope. One of us visited the ICU each week, and we gave meds there and helped with more difficult tasks, too: suctioning, NG tubes, CT scans, EKGs, catheter insertions, and even palliative care.

Each day at clinical, we worked hard and earned the respect of the floor nurses, and each day we had fun and bonded as a group. Nursing with Prof. Taylor started to seem like something fun and attainable instead of something far out of our reach. She didn’t slack, though - we were expected to know what we were administering and demonstrate how to do it correctly, or she’d make sure we did it again until we learned it. And we did.

When we had our last clinical last week, we gave her and the unit a fruit basket, donuts, and cookies to show our appreciation. But, unbeknownst to her, we’d all agreed that we would all give her the gift of nominating her for the DAISY Award, too. She taught us a staggering amount, she made our shifts fun, and she helped us all feel like we were able to become nurses under her guidance. She also showed us that a great nurse is someone who is not only able to give excellent care to patients but makes them feel better in her presence. It’s just how she is. I wouldn’t be where I am this semester without her, and I think all of us in her clinical group felt the same. We are all grateful to have had her as our mentor and professor. She’s a true DAISY Nurse.