DAISY Award—Mariam Jiddi, B.S.N., R.N., C.M.S.R.N.

Mariam Jiddi, B.S.N., R.N., C.M.S.R.N.
East 5 PM&R

I was recently at UC Davis Medical Center for surgery, and I wanted to share with you how much help and support one RN was to my mental and physical well-being while I stayed there. I was deeply touched by her concern and advocacy for me, during a terrible experience. She truly was my lifeline and without her, I believe the outcome of my stay would have been entirely different than it turned out to be. Everyone needs an advocate when they are sick, ill or diminished and I found one in Mariam Jiddi, RN. My experience, without her help and intervention, would have ended with a very different outcome.

While in the hospital, I was roomed with a person who was crying in pain all day and all night. She could not get to the bathroom and had to use a portable commode in our room, right by my bed. She had people in and out constantly discussing personal matters, which I could not help but overhear. I had surgery myself, was in terrible pain and could not sleep, either in the day or in the night. The last night I was there, a carpenter came in and began to fix something in the room. NO sane person, which I am, could remain in such a situation and hope to get better; it was a physical and emotional nightmare. Of course, I asked to be moved but there were no available rooms.

Finally, I asked my nurse for help to advocate to allow me to go home, where it is clean and quiet. I was entirely broken emotionally, and she saw this was true. Ms. Jiddi treated me as a real person, who needed support and she provided it, speaking to my doctor about letting me go home early. She found out what steps I needed to take, and she helped me make them, serving as a liaison for me, until she achieved my goal. In the afternoon, she came to tell me she had the discharge papers, and then she helped me get dressed and wheeled me out. I tried to thank her, but I was so grateful and stunned I think I did not truly know how to express myself.

I ask that you commend her for me and let her know she was a lifeline of professionalism and that she is a credit to your hospital and to her profession. I will be forever grateful to this gracious and caring person....amidst chaos, she brought me peace.