April 2010
Cammie
Stevens
,
RN, BSN
4NE, General Surg./Neurology
University of Washington Medical Center
Seattle
,
WA
United States
Cammie is a nurse who always has a smile on her face. She likes to take care of some of our most complex patients by looking for those small things that will make a patient’s stay positive and memorable. For example, a patient with severe memory deficits was with us for several months. Cammie worked with her long enough to note that she was slipping into depression. Working with the patient, she developed some short tasks, like folding towels and tearing stickers, that occupied some of the patient’s time and provided her a sense of value and purpose. Although this seems like a small thing, you should have seen the patient light up when Cammie and the nursing staff thanked her after each task was accomplished. Cammie also arranged for volunteers to take the patient to enjoy the healing gardens out doors when the weather was nice. On another occasion, she arranged for a birthday cake as a surprise for a patient and gathered staff to sing to him. We are so fortunate to have Cammie and believe that she is one of the DAISYs in our garden.