I arrived one evening from Utah to the bedside of my elderly father. My sister had called me that morning and informed me my father's health had quickly declined and he might be dying. I am a professor at a College of Nursing and an adult Nurse Practitioner. As I looked at my father in his unconscious state, I noticed his breathing was wet and labored. When Amanda introduced herself to me, I shared I had a goal of increasing my father's comfort. She included me in the plan of care and outlined steps she thought would achieve this increased level of comfort. The plan was complex and involved a great deal of nursing time, critical thinking, problem-solving, reassessing and using a lot of objective and subjective data to achieve the goal.

I was amazed by midnight, she had figured out he oxygenated best on his right side and his back, he needed morphine every hour instead of every two hours and atropine every two hours to decrease his pulmonary secretions. With this plan, his work of breathing significantly decreased, his blood pressure and heart rate almost normalized and his breathing was quiet.

Amanda had many patients to care for, but she didn't lose sight of the fact that even a dying patient deserves excellent care. Amanda showed compassion, respect, excellent nursing care and was open to working with me towards a common goal. She deserves every aspect of the DAISY Award.