Rachel Panek was nominated by a patient's father several months after the patient had been discharged from the in-patient TBI unit at Craig Hospital. The father of the patient and the patient returned to Craig Hospital to participate in the DAISY Award ceremony honoring Rachel. In a very emotional and touching ceremony, the father read his nomination aloud at the 3W nurse's station in the presence of hospital administration, nursing leadership, providers, and Rachel's nursing peers. This was a unique ceremony in that the nominator and nominee were together! The father of the patient named Rachel the family's "hero" after Rachel helped diffuse a very tense and escalated conversation between the patient (who had a brain injury at the time) and the patient's father. Below is the nomination the father wrote on behalf of Rachel:

"Rachel Panek is our HERO! Rachel is our HERO, not just because she chose such an honorable profession of selfless service to others as a Nurse, but because she staged an impromptu intervention between an angry father and a son with a traumatic brain injury that may have saved our relationship! Earlier in the day, I was made aware of some poor decisions that my son had made. I subsequently had some not-so-pleasant conversations with several Craig Hospital doctors and therapists about his words and actions.

When I confronted him with this information in what I thought was the privacy of his Craig Hospital room, I failed to realize that my frustration/anger had raised the level of my voice to the point that others could hear our conversation out in the hallway. Recognizing an inappropriate conversation, Rachel entered the room with two angry adult males and immediately went down on one knee to speak with us. This is the magic of her intervention. When she entered, we were both sitting in chairs across from each other. Rather than stand and lecture us from a position of authority or superiority, she came down to our level, making her an equal. In a calm and soothing voice, she simply asked me if this was an appropriate conversation to be having with a brain injury patient. It was like a slap of reality, and I immediately recognized the error of my ways and agreed with her that it was not. Crisis averted!

There are so many facets to why her intervention worked so well, which is why she is our HERO! I asked her days later if she intentionally went down on one knee to diffuse a tense situation, as that was the key to the success of the intervention, in my humble opinion. She did it instinctively and without even realizing the power of what she had done. After a 28-year military career as an Army Officer responsible for hundreds of soldiers, you learn when to take the position of authority/superiority and when to come out from behind the desk and sit across from others as an equal. She wasn’t standing over me in a threatening manner, she didn’t try to get between two angry adult males, she simply took a knee and came down to our level and spoke in a calm and soothing manner. Crisis solved! During our many weeks at Craig Hospital, we had numerous interactions with Rachel, and we couldn’t have asked for a more professional, empathetic, and caring Nurse to help heal our son. If we could give Rachel an award or a pay raise, we would do it in a heartbeat! She is an outstanding representative of the caring professionals at Craig Hospital!"