Maria consistently demonstrates kindness and caring and compassion, but a few days ago I saw a nurse go to levels of compassion, excellence and integrity that surpassed anything I have seen in a while. Maria was asked by the doctor to go upstairs to an inpatient room and do a quick aftercare teaching on a biliary drain placement. When Maria arrived to the patient's room, she began teaching the care of the drain for the patient and his wife and inquired what else they may require. The wife appeared quite distraught that the patient was about to be discharged home and she was terrified she was not going to have the necessary resources in place. Although this was not what Maria had been tasked with she did great service recovery; she began working with the patient and his wife on empowering them and giving them the tools and resources they were going to need. Discharge planning and others were contacted and the patient was kept another night to ensure that all of the pieces they were going to need for a successful recovery were in place.
What was originally a 15-minute teaching task on the care of a drain took Maria two hours of listening with compassion and care to the concerns of this family and becoming their advocate and voice. With the support of the radiology department, she was able to rearrange her schedule so she could do this extraordinary advocacy and care. When we saw the patient again a day later, for another procedure, the family and patient were very grateful for Maria's compassionate efforts on their behalf.
I believe Maria is very deserving of the DAISY Award. Radiology nursing is an area of the hospital that is often forgotten but the compassion and care she showed is an example to all MCR nurses.