Theresa Reed
March 2024
Theresa
Reed
,
RN
HFICU
Memorial Hermann-TMC
Houston
,
TX
United States
When the team withdrew treatment for the patient, he was surrounded by those who loved him and went without pain, all due to Theresa.
I am nominating Theresa for the DAISY Award because she is a great role model who should receive this award, as shown by the following example.
The Heart Failure ICU admitted a patient several months ago who had a heart attack and required care in our unit. He eventually needed an Impella for cardiac support. His clinical status continued to decline as he began to get multiple sources of infection and, therefore, was denied an LVAD implantation. He required more support than the Impella could provide, so he had a Centrimag inserted. During all this, he told his care team that he did not want heroic measures done to keep him alive, but his family wanted to continue.
The nursing staff knew that he was not going to have a quality of life and that the treatments being done to keep him alive were ones that he did not want. Theresa went above and beyond to advocate for his wish to end the treatments and for him to expire peacefully. She conversed with the appropriate team physicians about providing comfort care and comfort measures. She made all this happen for him. This action is what nursing is about… advocating for patient wishes! To my knowledge, no other nurse had made the appropriate conversations with the care team to stop all treatments until Theresa. To me, she is a hero for the patient. I already think highly of Theresa, but the chain of events to advocate for what the patient wants verifies the quality of nurse she is. Her day was not easy; I’m sure she had obstacles to jump through, but she made it happen for her patient! She also took excellent care of the family and visitors while coordinating the comfort care process. The patient was very aware of Theresa’s efforts, and he did acknowledge her hard work in making his suffering end in a peaceful manner. Theresa made sure that all family members could have a few moments with him before stopping all treatments. Once treatments were stopped, the patient expired quickly and with dignity. Theresa is an angel to him and his family. She is an angel to every patient and family she cares for. Please consider Theresa to be the next DAISY Award winner. She is so deserving of it!
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I have worked with Theresa for four years. She is always a nurse that the unit and her patients can count on. For several months, our unit has been taking care of a patient with no exit strategy. The patient (on multiple occasions) had requested to have all treatments stopped but was encouraged to keep going by his family. Theresa took care of him and advocated for his wishes to be met. She worked with the doctor teams and the patient’s wife to not only have him as a DNR but to withdraw and let him go in peace. She went to the café and purchased ice cream pops so the patient and his wife could have a last date. When the team withdrew treatment for the patient, he was surrounded by those who loved him and went without pain, all due to Theresa. I have absolutely loved working with her. She is dedicated to her patients and is a wonderful candidate for the DAISY Award.
The Heart Failure ICU admitted a patient several months ago who had a heart attack and required care in our unit. He eventually needed an Impella for cardiac support. His clinical status continued to decline as he began to get multiple sources of infection and, therefore, was denied an LVAD implantation. He required more support than the Impella could provide, so he had a Centrimag inserted. During all this, he told his care team that he did not want heroic measures done to keep him alive, but his family wanted to continue.
The nursing staff knew that he was not going to have a quality of life and that the treatments being done to keep him alive were ones that he did not want. Theresa went above and beyond to advocate for his wish to end the treatments and for him to expire peacefully. She conversed with the appropriate team physicians about providing comfort care and comfort measures. She made all this happen for him. This action is what nursing is about… advocating for patient wishes! To my knowledge, no other nurse had made the appropriate conversations with the care team to stop all treatments until Theresa. To me, she is a hero for the patient. I already think highly of Theresa, but the chain of events to advocate for what the patient wants verifies the quality of nurse she is. Her day was not easy; I’m sure she had obstacles to jump through, but she made it happen for her patient! She also took excellent care of the family and visitors while coordinating the comfort care process. The patient was very aware of Theresa’s efforts, and he did acknowledge her hard work in making his suffering end in a peaceful manner. Theresa made sure that all family members could have a few moments with him before stopping all treatments. Once treatments were stopped, the patient expired quickly and with dignity. Theresa is an angel to him and his family. She is an angel to every patient and family she cares for. Please consider Theresa to be the next DAISY Award winner. She is so deserving of it!
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I have worked with Theresa for four years. She is always a nurse that the unit and her patients can count on. For several months, our unit has been taking care of a patient with no exit strategy. The patient (on multiple occasions) had requested to have all treatments stopped but was encouraged to keep going by his family. Theresa took care of him and advocated for his wishes to be met. She worked with the doctor teams and the patient’s wife to not only have him as a DNR but to withdraw and let him go in peace. She went to the café and purchased ice cream pops so the patient and his wife could have a last date. When the team withdrew treatment for the patient, he was surrounded by those who loved him and went without pain, all due to Theresa. I have absolutely loved working with her. She is dedicated to her patients and is a wonderful candidate for the DAISY Award.