Ms. Bindu Kottanal was nominated by her co-worker and recognized as “not just an amazing and exceptional nurse, but she is also an extraordinarily strong person.” Her colleague nominated her on behalf of Ms. Kottanal’s colleagues, as she displays exceptional and extraordinary performance, observed by her ability to care for patients who are unable to write or verbalize the care they have received from Ms. Kottanal.

Ms. Kottanal has shown and expressed compassion to all her patients as evidenced by ensuring the following: patients are up and about in a chair, which prevents debility while in an inpatient status, provides and encourages patient’s to eat, which assists with healing, and is an advocate for oral care. These are just a few important highlights that she does consistently, but the most remarkable thing that she does impacting safe and high-quality care is her initiative of early patient mobility.

According to Bergower et al. (2020), inpatient early mobility initiatives are effective therapeutic interventions for improving patient outcomes and decreasing the use of hospital resources among adult ICU and general medicine patients. A few of the inpatient veterans always praise Ms. Kottanal for her encouragement and motivation for getting out of the bed and either moving to the chair or walking around the unit. Her positive outlook and attitude have continued to boost the energy among her colleagues. Some of her collogues have expressed their feelings of ease when working with her and her confidence with knowledge, experience, and skill including ultrasound guided IV insertion. Adding to this, Ms. Kottanal is also hailed as a “Super Nurse” because her strength, willpower, determination, and dedication toward our veterans are truly extraordinary. Her dedication and commitment to compassionate service make her an excellent DAISY Award Nurse as exhibiting all the I CARE values.