At the beginning of Dec, as we were experiencing our surge of COVID patients, Tammie was floated to task in the hospital. Tammie is a pre/post nurse, who hasn't done bedside nursing in a while. She was assigned to a floor. When she got to the floor, she was met with a less than positive/helpful nurse, who then assigned her a 14 bed CNA assignment, 7 on 1 side of the hall, 7 on another. Tammie took a deep breath, put on a positive attitude, and gave great care despite a very difficult assignment. She didn't have the tools she needed (Aztec to have vitals cross to Cerner), but she did them and then entered manually. She changed patients who were total care and having diarrhea every hour. She did baths, answer call lights, etc. This may not sound like anything extraordinary, as other nurses from other floors also floated and had the same assignment. But not having done bedside nursing in a while was very nerve-wracking for her.
The thing that makes her a DAISY Nurse is the connection she made with one of her patients. This young woman was facing her second round of brain cancer in a short amount of time. She was alone in the hospital, without family support as we weren't allowing visitors due to COVID. She took the time to sit with the patient and held her hand and let her cry, as the patient was not able to be with her family who was hospitalized with COVID, nor could they see her given her compromised health.
The compassion she gave to this young woman, not only physically but emotionally and spiritually is a true testament to what nursing is all about. Tammie gave great care to her patients that day, as well as maintaining a positive and helpful attitude through it all. Tammie lived our philosophy: Patients and Families Our Are Purpose.