Erin was caring for a dramatically ill patient in the Surgical Intensive Care Unit. The situation was tragic and unfortunately, the outcome was not good. The patient was a 32 year old female 5 weeks pregnant with her first child. Her husband was overseas with the military when she was admitted to our unit. Due to a pre-existing condition, she developed blood clots and experienced a cardiac arrest on the unit and never recovered. She was placed on ECMO (Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Life Support) to oxygenate her. Ultimately, all efforts were unsuccessful.

Erin was so attentive and compassionate not only to the patient but to the husband who got on an emergency flight to see his critically ill wife. He was in shock and Erin was so calm and understanding I could see that he was able to start to accept the situation. Erin cared for this patient for several days and provided such intense one on one attention to this patient and family. Erin was very proactive throughout these days offering suggestions to improve her care. I know that this was an emotional situation for her that she handled with grace. Oftentimes, the family is the patient as well and Erin did a beautiful job attending to their needs as well as her very sick patient. I think that Erin deserves a DAISY Award for her ability to manage high acuity with compassion and patience for the patient, family, and other disciplines working with her.