I want to take a few minutes to explain to you why Kim Hillard should be the recipient of Mercy Clermont’s FIRST DAISY nurse Leader. The DAISY Foundation recognizes a nurse that is skillful, compassionate, and goes above and beyond to be an Extraordinary Nurse. I can tell you first hand that she is all of this and more! Not only is she an amazing leader, but she takes the time to understand the needs of others. It could be something as simple as filling a basket of goodies for the team, or offering to rearrange a schedule that may conflict with an employee’s personal life. There was a need for a sedation nurse. Without hesitation, Kim let the manager know that she would be willing to go and take care of this patient, so they could get their procedures complete. Otherwise, they would have to reschedule multiple patients. The department manager quickly accepted Kim’s offer and he immediately called his team to let them know not to cancel the procedure, for Kim would be down to help. After the procedures, I asked her, "How did it go"? Her response was, "It was so fun; I miss doing that!"

There is NEVER a day that goes by when there is help needed within the hospital, and Kim does not stand up to the challenge. Just a few weeks ago, there was a critical patient that a rapid response was called on. Kim immediately shows up, starts drawing labs/abgs, etc. Orders were placed for the patient to get a STAT CT. Without hesitation, she transported the patient along with the Clinical to get the scan - never leaving the patient's side, and calling the floor nurse to bring pain medication to this patient promptly. Worried about the patient's wife, Kim made sure to keep her up to date. After the scan, the patient was intubated in the ICU. At this point, Clinical was so involved/busy with transferring this patient to Jewish by Aircrew, that Kim took over the Clinical role so our scheduled Clinical could focus solely on this patient. Kim even offered to drive the patient's wife to Jewish.

If not enough, there was another situation with a patient when our MRI machine was down, and we were transporting our patients who needed testing over to MHA. A nurse had to travel with the patient via the squad, and then come back to MHC with the patient. You guessed it! Kim volunteered and accompanied them to and from MHA to get their test done. (The patient had been waiting for 3 days to complete the MRI).

Recently, Kim initiated a food drive to benefit the employees of Mercy Clermont; this was our FIRST food drive to stock our employee food bank. Through ALL of these examples, it displays how this nurse leader has stepped up to the plate. She steps up for our patients, the staff, our community, and Mercy Clermont!! I think it's time we recognize what a wonderful NURSE leader she is!!!