Several weeks ago, I received a phone call from a previous employee concerning a patient who was being induced that she wanted me to check on.  This was a patient that was a high-risk pregnancy and she was concerned about the patient.  I made the time to go and find the patient to check in to see how things were going, but the patient had already delivered and was holding her beautiful baby in her arms.  Since this was the patient’s first pregnancy, I was really surprised that she had already delivered so quickly since first time inductions can take anywhere from 24 – 48 hours.  In talking with the patient about her experience, she couldn’t stop talking about the amazing nurse who helped her have her baby.  The patient reported that while most of the nurses that she had did a great job, they could not compare to Annika Johnson.  In her exact words, Annika was “phenomenal”.  The patient could not stop talking about the amazing care that Annika provided not only to her, but to her family as well.  The patient described in great detail how Annika started the shift by coming into the room and introducing herself to them and immediately started explaining everything and what they could expect. At the beginning of Annika’s shift at 1900, the patient was not in labor and was only dilated to 1 cm.  She shared that at the time she was a little frustrated that she wasn’t progressing as quickly as she thought she would, but Annika assured her that everything was going to be ok, and said, “I think we will have a little surprise around 3:00 in the morning, “I just need you to trust me and do everything I tell you to do.”  While Annika was confident that the patient could potentially deliver at 0300, none of the family was that confident.  They all started joking and trying to guess what time it would be, but Annika, was confident in her approach, and her skills and knowledge while working with the patient.  The patient reported that Annika was willing to get down to her level and look her in the eyes and said, “I just need you to trust me, I will protect and take care of you, I promise.”  This meant the world to the patient, as none of the previous staff had taken the opportunity to develop this type of connection with the patient and her family.  The patient said that Annika told her the plan for that night, and that she was going to be changing her position about every 30 -45 minutes, and just like clockwork, every 30 -45 minutes, Annika was in the room, not only asking her to change her position, but literally helping her to do so.  She said that when Annika didn’t know something about her disease process, she wasn’t afraid to ask questions, and learn what to do, she simply said “teach me”.  As I listened to the story that the patient shared, I couldn’t help but be proud of the work that this nurse did in taking care of the patient and the entire family.  The patient went on to say that around 0300, Annika and another nurse came in and started preparing the room for the delivery.  The patient stated that they checked her, and she was dilated to 8cm, which is unheard of for a first-time mom to make that type of progress in that amount of time.  Things started moving very quickly after that, and Annika kept both the patient and her family informed about everything that was happening.  It was a short 21 minutes later that the patient delivered her beautiful baby girl just like Annika had promised.  

The patient shared that while she knew she was a complicated patient and was new to Parkland, she was unsure of what to expect because of her Sickle Cell disease.  She stated that she received care at a different facility prior to her pregnancy, and once pregnant she was told that they could no longer provide care due to the complexity of the pregnancy.  She was then referred to Parkland, where she made the decision to transfer her care.  The smile on this patient’s face as she talked about being one of the best decisions that she had ever made was such a rewarding feeling for me as a nurse leader at Parkland.  This patient ended her story by telling me that she is confident that she would not have had her baby in the manner in which she did without the help of Annika Johnson, and for that she will be forever grateful to Annika.  She was convinced that she would have had a C-Section without Annika, which would have put her at greater risk. 

I wanted to nominate Annika for the DAISY Award for her commitment to provide exceptional care to not only the patient, but to the entire family.  The kind of care that Annika provided is what all Labor & Delivery nurses should aspire to provide for each and every one of their patients each and every time.  Annika demonstrated ICARE in action and provided care that was selfless and simply amazing, all while being a fairly new Labor & Delivery nurse.

Annika, thank you for your dedication and commitment to providing the highest level of care to one of our patients and their entire family.