Brigitte is an amazing nurse with a great passion for caring for our oncology population. She started celebrations for our patients when they complete their chemotherapy by providing a t-shirt for the patient showing chemo complete, as well as providing the patient and their family a special food treat individualized to the patient's preferences. Nurses on the floor go into the patient's room and give these items to the patient and their family when they are nearing the completion of their chemo cycles. This routine has become something the staff looks forward to celebrating as well! It is such a difficult population to care for, so celebrating the successes has become very important to our unit as a whole.

Most recently we have cared for a patient in need of a stem cell transplant. He was able to find a match through the Be the Match Program. It was important to that patient to have a bone marrow drive to help find matches for other patients as well, and because Brigitte was one of the nurses caring for him and so passionate about this population of patients she took the project on. She contacted Bonfils about what it would take to set up a drive and was working with the Shared Leadership Council to have a bone marrow donor drive that involved the community a few months down the line. With concern about the patient's condition we asked to make the drive happen sooner. With very little time Brigitte, with the help of some amazing volunteers, was able to organize, set up and run our floor's first bone marrow drive on March 6, 2017. The information was sent out hospital wide, the families, and nurses from our floor recruited people from the community to come as well. There were 93 swabs done that day that could be the match for patients in need. Brigitte spent much of her own time making phone calls, sending emails, putting together flyers, arranging volunteers, and a space to hold the drive. She didn't wait for someone else to put this in place - she stepped in and made something very important happen for a patient that has been very important to our floor. This patient was able to come to the drive and see that his dream became a reality. It made a difference because Brigitte listened to what was important to him and his family and made that a priority. She went above and beyond to make this happen, to help a patient see a goal achieved.

Brigitte is an amazing nurse and cares for the whole patient. She consistently keeps the patient and family at the center of what she does and these are just a couple of reasons she is a true DAISY Nurse. I am proud to work with her.

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This is a story about an angel oncology nurse named Brigitte. My husband, was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in mid September. He has spent much of his time since then on the 5th Floor Oncology Unit at Good Samaritan. He needed a stem cell transplant to fight his cancer. Even though he found a match on the registry, he was concerned about others who did not have a match. He started pestering his nurses that the hospital should host a drive to sign people up for the registry. Every time that he would come back into the hospital he would ask about a drive. Unfortunately, his leukemia relapsed before he could receive his transplant and once again he found himself back in the hospital. The nurses had planned to do a drive in June when it was Cancer Awareness month, but they really wanted my husband to be able to see his dream of a drive become a reality. So, Brigitte took it upon herself to rally her co-workers and get a drive set up in a week in my husband's honor. She worked 3 nights in a row and came back on her own time the next 2 days to get the drive ready and also manned the drive on her own personal time. That drive happened on March 6th and was a huge success. They signed up 93 people to the Be the Match registry. My husband was able to make an appearance and greet several of the donors and volunteers. Having accomplished this drive is part of the reason that my husband is at peace with whatever comes next for him. With Brigitte's leadership of 10-12 nurses from the floor who volunteered on their own time to make his dream come true. This drive also spurred others to set up drives of their own at their church or place of employment so this small act of kindness will continue to grow and spread.

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Something special happened at Good Samaritan Medical Center earlier this month. A female patient was resting in her hospital bed, anticipating her transfer to hospice later that evening. At the same time, just miles away, her cherished daughter was accepting her college diploma.

The mother felt torn, not in regard to her own future, but about not being able to celebrate her daughter's major achievement. The team at Good Samaritan Medical Center was blessed with the opportunity to make a difference for this family during such a difficult time in their lives.

Brigitte recognized the gravity of this mother's situation and responded with heartfelt compassion. She put a plan in motion by reaching out to the Director of Guest Services who sought the help of Nutrition Services to prepare something special for this patient and her family.

The General Manager of Nutrition Services visited a local market in search of fresh lobster tails while the Patient Services Manager and the production team set out to prepare the table setting and accompanying dishes. Meanwhile, patient tray line cooks carved vegetables, designed garnishes and prepared the feast. The result: A gourmet dinner of lobster, loaded baked potatoes, tossed garden salad, double chocolate cake and sparkling pomegranate juice.

A team of Good Samaritan associates took the opportunity to surprise our guests of honor with true compassion. With sincere team effort, a very special mother was able to celebrate with her daughter and family.