Erin Smith
June 2022
Erin
Smith
,
BSN, RN, RNC-MNN
LDRP
MemorialCare Saddleback Medical Center
Laguna Hills
,
CA
United States
The baby was born in the middle of the night and the mother was able to hold her baby and express her love. Erin then compassionately took photos and let the mother’s wishes for the photographs to be done.
As a member of the APPlS Portfolio Review Committee, I am always moved deeply by the personal stories written and submitted as an exemplar of their nursing care. I am nominating Erin Smith for a DAISY Award based on the extreme compassion and professional excellence she demonstrated in her care of a young patient who at full term was to deliver a stillborn baby.
Erin titled her exemplar, “Finding Hope in a Tragedy”. She begins her story with, “It is never any easier each time I assist in a fetal demise, and I never forget the families I helped hold their hand as they try to process their grief and shock in the moment of losing their baby. In this family’s story, I felt more emotional than I have ever felt and learned a valuable lesson about being a nurse.” In the bedside report, she learned the patient was in shock. Erin paused mindfully to plan for caring for this patient. She prayed. She dedicated herself to being the nurse the patient needed her to be, “shoulder to cry on, someone to talk to, or maybe someone to just hold her hand and say nothing at all.”
Erin was able to form a meaningful nurse-patient relationship with the patient, and she shared her grief and opened up about her feelings. The baby was born in the middle of the night and the mother was able to hold her baby and express her love. Erin then compassionately took photos and let the mother’s wishes for the photographs to be done. “In the morning, I gave her a hug and told her she was the strongest mom I have ever known and that I would always be there for her.” This patient assignment was also personally more challenging for Erin as her best friend had also recently lost a term baby, and Erin shared her compassion with her friend for her grief and loss.
Erin closed her exemplar with the significance of the experience for her as a nurse. “This experience was extremely emotional for me and I will never forget that wonderful family. Before entering the patient’s room, I had visions of my friend holding her baby in my head and thought to myself “can I make it through this?” But after prayer, I remembered what my friend had told me about her nurse and made the decision to use that encouragement and be the nurse for this patient, and not think about myself or what I have gone through, but to truly be there for the patient and their family, with my entire physical, emotional, and spiritual strength. I also learned a lesson that sometimes as a nurse, I can’t fix everything. Sometimes, there are no words to put a band-aid on it. It was simply about me being a comforting presence to this family and allowing them to cope in any way that was helpful to them. It was a growing experience for me, and it showed me the strength of the women who come to deliver at Saddleback.”
In closing my nomination, it is an honor to be able to read such a personal story and it would also be an amazing honor for Erin if she is honored for her compassionate and professional nursing care with a DAISY Award.
Erin titled her exemplar, “Finding Hope in a Tragedy”. She begins her story with, “It is never any easier each time I assist in a fetal demise, and I never forget the families I helped hold their hand as they try to process their grief and shock in the moment of losing their baby. In this family’s story, I felt more emotional than I have ever felt and learned a valuable lesson about being a nurse.” In the bedside report, she learned the patient was in shock. Erin paused mindfully to plan for caring for this patient. She prayed. She dedicated herself to being the nurse the patient needed her to be, “shoulder to cry on, someone to talk to, or maybe someone to just hold her hand and say nothing at all.”
Erin was able to form a meaningful nurse-patient relationship with the patient, and she shared her grief and opened up about her feelings. The baby was born in the middle of the night and the mother was able to hold her baby and express her love. Erin then compassionately took photos and let the mother’s wishes for the photographs to be done. “In the morning, I gave her a hug and told her she was the strongest mom I have ever known and that I would always be there for her.” This patient assignment was also personally more challenging for Erin as her best friend had also recently lost a term baby, and Erin shared her compassion with her friend for her grief and loss.
Erin closed her exemplar with the significance of the experience for her as a nurse. “This experience was extremely emotional for me and I will never forget that wonderful family. Before entering the patient’s room, I had visions of my friend holding her baby in my head and thought to myself “can I make it through this?” But after prayer, I remembered what my friend had told me about her nurse and made the decision to use that encouragement and be the nurse for this patient, and not think about myself or what I have gone through, but to truly be there for the patient and their family, with my entire physical, emotional, and spiritual strength. I also learned a lesson that sometimes as a nurse, I can’t fix everything. Sometimes, there are no words to put a band-aid on it. It was simply about me being a comforting presence to this family and allowing them to cope in any way that was helpful to them. It was a growing experience for me, and it showed me the strength of the women who come to deliver at Saddleback.”
In closing my nomination, it is an honor to be able to read such a personal story and it would also be an amazing honor for Erin if she is honored for her compassionate and professional nursing care with a DAISY Award.