I am pleased and honored to write this letter nominating the Medical Unit 1 (MU1) staff, Dr. Erin Harper, Central Washington Hospital Medical Social Workers Kaitlyn White, Hortencia Rios, and Rodrigo Espinoza, and the Confluence Health Security Team for the DAISY Team Award.  

Recently, they cared for a young developmentally delayed patient who had a length of stay of over 200 days.  This patient was admitted malnourished and noncommunicative and was very aggressive not only with others but also with themself.  The MU1 staff and Security Team worked with this patient, setting boundaries but also helping them learn to communicate their needs.  His outbursts gradually decreased and learned one-word expressions to communicate basic needs and emotions.  

Dr. Erin Harper, an inpatient Psychologist at Central Washington Hospital, was able to create plans of care that the staff was able to use and follow that not only significantly improved behavior but also helped decrease anxiety.   This patient had a weight gain of almost 20 pounds and was able to sleep more than the 1 to 2 hours at a time they were getting on admission.  

We knew that appropriate placement for this patient was going to be challenging.  The Care Management Department and MSWs reached out to over 100 long-term care and adult family homes before finding an accepting facility.  Kaitlyn, Hortencia, and Rodrigo had weekly meetings with the Developmental Disabilities Administration, the appointed guardians, and the DDA ombudsman to work to find an appropriate placement.   

Finally, this patient was initially quite violent to himself and staff on admission and unfortunately, required restraints.  Help from Security was essential, and it was touching to see our Security Guards use such care and empathy with this patient.   

This team celebrated this patient’s discharge recently as they know they will be able to continue to improve but also to be cared for and loved.  The accepting facility was over 100 miles away and one of our nurses, Corey, agreed to accompany the transport so that this patient would be less afraid, and of course, bring snacks for the ride.  

This team is led by a very visible and involved Nurse Manager and certainly reflects the Confluence Health values of teamwork, compassion, respect, and trust.  
They live these values every day and it’s reflected in the care they provide.  This could not be more apparent than in the care they provided this patient.