Sharmayne consistently shows extraordinary care for her patients. Sharmayne worked five shifts within seven days and was feeling a bit burned out, like any of us would. She came to work for her fifth shift and was feeling pretty down but she found happiness in her work. She took care of a Navajo man who asked her what her clans were when they found out they were brother and sister by clan. She replied with “oh no, we are going to cause some trouble” this joke made the patient smile. She proceeded to complete his wound care, making conversation with the patient when he confided in her that all of his family were gone and he was alone and he would repeatedly tell her, “Don’t get old, it’s no good”. She then closed his curtains and told him to get some sleep, but he wanted to tell her some Skinwalker stories, so she spent some more time with him to ease his loneliness and listened to his stories. I’m certain this extra effort to just spend time with a patient gave this patient comfort and happiness.

In the morning when Shar gave report and told her patient goodbye he told her “Goodbye deezhi, thank you for taking good care of me last night, get some rest. It was good meeting you, and I’m proud of you”. This comment nearly brought Sharmayne to tears and honestly made her want to pick up a 6th, 7th, or even 8th shift just to take care of this patient.

Being a nurse is hard work and it’s easy to move on to the next patient and forget about the last, but Sharmayne consistently shows this level of personal care; it’s just a part of her normal day. Sharmayne is most deserving of a DAISY Award because she is always going above and beyond to make her patients feel at home and cared for, and I know this night made a meaningful difference in this patient’s life that he will remember for a long time.