DAISY Award

Emilia DeLeon, RN, BSN
Tower 6 Medical Surgical Unit

I would like to nominate Emilia DeLeon for her amazing work with a difficult patient/family situation. We recently had a liver failure patient admitted to the Medical-Surgical Unit who was impacted by the care she was provided. She came back to visit the unit to tell us about her stay and how the compassionate care that was provided went above and beyond what she and her family felt they have ever received during the course of her disease process. She remarked that her nurses, especially one of her primary nurses Emilia DeLeon, showed extreme care and compassion in the following instances:

• Overbearing family - She recognized that her extended family can be extremely over-bearing, but was handled respectfully and appropriately. The family and the patient never felt Emilia was impatient with them or dismissive in the care.
• Reorientation when appropriate: She realized she was intermittently confused during her stay. She never felt that she was viewed as crazy and that allowed her to not become scared during her times of confusion.
• She always felt she was treated as a priority despite how busy we were. Emilia never seemed frustrated with her requests. We took the time to explain things to her and never appeared to be in a rush.
• Ensuring patient preferences are considered - She thought it was very nice that we kept her favorite flavor of popsicles for her stocked on the unit. There were even some ready for her when she was readmitted for her 2nd admission. She stated “It sometimes is the small things that mean a lot to a patient”.
• Patient’s husband said he considers the nurses more than her nurses, but also their friends.
• Family respite was scary: Emilia was with her one night when her family all left. The patient was terrified, she thought her room was on fire and Emilia stayed in her room and charted to keep her company and assure her that things would be okay until a family member arrived.

Emilia never asked to not have the patient as some of the other nurses requested a break from caring for her.  She was always willing to take this patient and never asked for a break. Not only did the patient rave about the care that went above a beyond, the leadership on the unit saw the incredible care that Emilia provided to the patient too.