Ashley Fenske is a Nurse Clinician on the Gynecology, Urology, Plastics, and Otolaryngology unit. She was nominated for the DAISY Award by a patient at UW Hospital and Clinics and the patient’s wife.
The patient has a rare autoimmune disease called Relapsing Polychondritis, which presented one month after his wedding in 2010. It spread fast and hit him hard, leading to other illnesses and conditions including Cushings disease, osteoarthritits, polyarthropathy, and bacterial stenosis. All of which led to his stay at UW Hospital and Clinics. According to the patient, Ashley made him laugh, which his wife said hadn’t happened in at least six months.
They said that Ashley self-created new tools to make Guy more comfortable and spent time with them explaining in detail what to expect. Additionally, Ashley provided pamphlets and other printouts, including a printout of information. She would spend as much time as was needed for them to get as much information as they needed to make an informed decision. They also said that Ashley looked up the rare autoimmune disease he was diagnosed with, in order to be better educated about it and would also research additional information regarding how to make him comfortable such as what people would wear over trachs.
The patient stated that Ashley always took care of his health and health concerns before giving a hug or telling a joke to make them laugh and she always pushed him using a silly or jovial method to get him to walk farther or sit longer.
If something didn’t work, they said that she took full responsibility and then would try something different. Also, if they had a suggestion regarding how to solve a particular issue Ashley would try it, provided that it was plausible and safe. She welcomed the opportunity to learn something new.
The silver lining to our visit was Ashley. Thank you, Ashley. You are truly a breath of fresh air!