I know that you must have a large number of nominations for the DAISY Award and that many nurses stand out as having great potential. Ms. Camelia Cristea is one of those nurses. It is with great honor and pleasure to highly nominate Camelia Cristea, RN, for the DAISY award at Kaiser Permanente Anaheim. I would like to briefly tell you about my journey as a nurse to illustrate Camelia’s dedication to teaching and mentoring nurses and caring for patients and their families.

I started off as a New Grad RN at Kaiser Permanente Anaheim on the Medical Surgical Telemetry units and Camelia was my preceptor. My New Grad RN experience was one of the best times of my life. I learned a lot about nursing and myself. As years passed, I was a part of the Anaheim Mentoring Program where I set goals for myself that encompassed: education, community outreach, and self-development. Some things I accomplished are presenting a Ted Talk at the Magnet Forum in Pasadena, educating Girls Scouts at the STEM OC Expo, and shadowing Nurse Practitioners and Clinical Nurse Specialists. I was also a member of the Geriatric NICHE (Nurses Improving Care for Healthsystem Elders) Committee where I helped serve meals at a local senior community and educated nurses about the Confusion Assessment Method (CAM) delirium tool.

I am a new member of the ERAS (Enhance Recovery After Surgery) Evidence Base Practice project, which helps patients have a smoother and more meaningful transition to recovery from hospital to home. I am also studying to take my CMSRN certification, researching RN specialties that interest me, and I plan to get my MSN in the near future. There is so much more I want to learn and give. Without Camelia’s guidance, support, and encouragement, I honestly would not be where I am today. She advocated for my learning. She holds the values of professionalism, patient and family-centered care, compassion, teamwork, excellence, and integrity. She helped me help myself, to start off my career on the right footing.

I carry what Camelia has taught me every day: I go to serve patients. When I was a New Grad RN, I remember I had a patient with a challenging situation. I became anxious and it felt like I wasn’t going to make it through the 12-hour shift. Camelia took my hand and said, “It’s ok to feel that way, it keeps you on your toes.” She encouraged me that I could do anything! Now when things get tough, a strength that I have is that I know how to pivot and get things done while being caring and helpful.

I am forever grateful to her for all the good she’s done for me, our team, and our patients. I pray that God will give her the strength to continue on to inspire, educate, encourage, and mentor the next generation of nurses because this world needs more nurses. As I grow in my nursing vocation, I hope to help someone the way she helped me. Camelia is a worthy candidate for this award because she has the skills to care for patients and their families while teaching new nurses. She's a good team player and has a caring heart.

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