Submitted by the new born baby’s mother and father:
“When I read the qualities a DAISY Award nurse demonstrates, I can think of no one more deserving and perfectly fit than Melissa. It brings tears to my eyes to think about just how deserving she is and how important she is to my family. She is: *Someone you trust and want to take care of your friend or family member *Calm, focused, communicative and comforting *A consummate team player *Understands that little things make a big difference *Attentive to the emotional and psychological needs of patients *Compassionate and genuine *A true patient advocate. Let me explain.
On August 18th I was blessed with a sweet little baby girl. I received great care in the labor delivery unit and was transferred to mother baby and lucky to have Melissa as my new nurse. I was in new mom heaven. My daughter, Lucy, was perfect in my eyes. But thankfully, nurse Melissa noticed early that her color was off. Lucy was jaundice. Now to most moms this is not a huge problem. To me it was. It was more complicated and turned out to be a rare blood incompatibility issue. Still hard for me to explain. Melissa tested Lucy early and contacted the on-call doc right away; she was calm and clearly explained her levels were high. She was reassuring and comforting. She made sure Lucy received prompt top notch care. Sadly, this happened during a shift change. Yet even through her shift ended, she followed through on her next day. Maybe that is no biggie-but to me that is special, that is a nurse going above and beyond to make sure the patient she was caring for was healing-it was not her responsibility to do so, but her genuine compassion.
Lucy had been moved to the NICU for Dr. S to care for. She had to be under intense light therapy and monitored closely. Lucy’s father and I were so touched by Melissa’s quick and kind care that we wanted to thank her. Nothing fancy just some flowers and a card to remind her how important and special she is. We dropped them off at her desk as a surprise. Melissa came herself to the NICU to thank us. She knew how worried I was and was really a great support to me. Maybe Melissa didn’t know that something so small as checking Lucy’s bilirubin levels early could make a huge difference; maybe she did. Either way Melissa was comforting, compassionate, genuine, and understanding; she is someone I trust and was honored to have as my nurse. It would mean a lot to me to see her great care recognized. She changed my baby girl’s life. See if her levels had not been caught so early, Lucy’s struggle would have been huge and I honestly don’t know what would have happened. Melissa deserves a DAISY award. I cannot thank her enough, she is my baby girl’s’ angel.