I enthusiastically nominate nurse Jamie Cessna for the DAISY Award! Our son is now nearly a month old and I am still reliving the day of his birth and I become emotional thinking about the tremendous care we received from all of the staff and Jamie in particular at Rapid City Regional Hospital.

We had just been admitted in the early morning hours on June 30th when Jamie started her shift. She was bright, cheerful and smiling when she greeted us for the first time. Right away, Jamie was asking us questions to get to know us and we felt she sincerely cared about us and genuinely was excited for our family as we anxiously awaited the arrival of our third son. Although we were not first time parents, it was our first experience laboring as our older sons were born via a planned C-section. Jamie was very patient with all of our questions and we felt confident and trusted in the information she provided along the way.

When the time came for the epidural, Jamie helped me get in the right position seated on the edge of the bed. Without hesitation, Jamie embraced me and I immediately relaxed and felt comforted. As the epidural was being administered I began to feel anxious as it seemed so different than the epidural I received previously with a C-section and it seemed to be taking longer. I knew I needed to hold still, but I was growing with concern that something wasn't going right. Jamie seemed to be able to sense my worry and started whispering in my ear things like "you're doing a good job", "he's almost done", "everything is okay." It was as though Jamie, this person that I had known for less than an hour, was connecting with me on a human level, surpassing a mere passion for nursing.

Labor seemed to progress normally albeit a little slowly at first and Jamie remained a constant and trusted presence throughout the day. She was very knowledgeable and professional and she also had a good sense of humor and was very relatable. As we were approaching the end of her shift, she said that she was sad to be leaving and really wanted to be with us for the birth of our son. She and the nurse who was going to be taking over checked me and we were all surprised that I had gone from being dilated to a 5 to being ready to push! Again, Jamie's presence was so comforting to me and she insisted on staying after her shift had concluded to be with us for the active labor stage. After my first attempts at pushing I commented that I felt disconnected with the epidural in place and couldn't really feel my efforts at pushing. Jamie offered visualization, suggesting that I imagine my belly as a beach ball that I'm trying to pop. Her suggestion really helped me feel both more connected to what was happening and in control. After about an hour of pushing, our beautiful son was born and Jamie was there to share in our joy.

The next day Jamie came to visit us in our recovery room. She gave me a big hug and doted on the baby commenting on how adorable he was. Jamie said that she really enjoyed having us in her care and wished us all the best.

I don't envy the task of the selection committee and I'm sure there are many deserving nurses based on what we experienced during our time at RCRH. I hope you will strongly consider Jamie Cessna for this award given her tremendous care and compassion and I hope Jamie knows she provided us with a beautiful experience and we will be forever in her debt for the lasting memory of our son's Birth Day. Thank you so much for your consideration of our submission!

(Note, Jamie had her own daughter 2 days prior to our scheduled presentation time so we rearranged schedules and presented the award to her while she was still in-house as a patient in her own area!)