In order to understand why we are nominating Sonja, some background will be helpful. I am a retired MD and my wife is a retired RN, with clinical oncology experience. Our dear friend was hospitalized in October at HC where AML was diagnosed. He was discharged in the middle of month, and we took him to the University of Miami's Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center who assumed care of the AML. While home, with frequent visits to the Fort Lauderdale SCCC CTU for platelet and red blood cell infusions, he suffered bilateral subdural hematomas and was readmitted, underwent craniotomy and bilateral middle meningeal artery embolization, was discharged in early November, began having stroke-like symptoms the next day and was readmitted this past Sunday. On Monday morning, I received a call from his SCCC team, who was monitoring his labs remotely via MyChart. The APRN from SCCC told me that our friend had been the subject of a tumor board which had collectively decided that he should undergo a trial of a specific chemotherapy to try to induce a remission. Thus began a remarkably frustrating exercise in bureaucratic inefficiency injected into patient care, as even though UM had recommended the transfer Monday morning and everyone at HC agreed with it, it wasn't until late Wednesday night that the transfer occurred.

On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, Sonja was his daytime nurse. My wife and I have worked with countless nurses over our combined careers and Sonja is an exemplary nurse. She is smart, informed about her patients, caring, concerned, efficient, responsive to the needs of the patient and extended family, competent, pleasant, and supportive. She and I had several conversations about the snags in this transfer and she listened empathetically and offered some helpful suggestions and, sometimes, just let me vent my frustration at how uncommunicative the SCCC team, who suggested the transfer, had been in helping resolve the hang ups. Sonja's attitude was unflappable -- she was always pleasant, communicative and, even in this fairly dire situation, was upbeat and had a great sense of humor. She was also teaching/mentoring another female LPN, whose name I didn't catch. I was impressed with her patient, thoughtful, and thorough teaching technique (I spent a part of my career in academic medicine, so I have studied educational processes for healthcare professionals.) In summary, we cannot think of a more deserving nurse for DAISY recognition.