Choosing just one story minimizes the elite nurse that Shandy is. What she brings to work every day and what we want all health system team members to embrace is the opportunity to make a patient's life better.
You can see her daily determination to problem solve care coordination needs for all patients, whether they are wheelchair-bound with severe disabilities or a mild asthmatic who is without medications due to insurance issues. She comes to work early and leaves late often because of her dedication to her patients and their families.
One particular child comes to mind who needed a massive amount of coordination in a short time. This patient is an amazing school-aged girl who battles mitochondrial disorder, seizures, generalized weakness, feeding issues, and autism. She recently had a port placed so there were many coordination needs that had to be changed multiple times due to various factors. In addition, she was going to a new school, that was extremely anxious about her medical complexity. This also created a sense of understandable uncertainty for her father. Shandy worked tirelessly with the school providing them copious orders and reassurance that she would be a joy to work with.
The countless phone calls, emails, and faxes resulted in one of the most amazing messages I have ever received from a family. This patient's father sent us a glowing report about her first two days and singing Shandy's praises.
I reflect back on that process and know that this patient's success in school is directly linked to the daily devotion I see from Shandy to give her patients and families the best life possible. She is a true DAISY Nurse.