DAISY Award—Delia Christian, BSN, RN, CNRN

Delia Christian, BSN, RN, CNRN
NSICU

Delia was the first nurse my little sister Cynthia had after her stroke. We were told by Cynthia's team of neurosurgeons and doctors that she had less than a 1% chance of making it through the injury she had experienced. My family and I were devastated and broken. Delia gave us everything we needed and more. Delia talked to us, listened to us, and provided all of the support we could ever ask for.

Cynthia has been in the hospital for over 2 months now and every time we saw that Delia was going to be her nurse at the NSICU, we jumped with joy. Delia has come to know and care for our family so well, blowing past any expectation of care. She remembers little details from conversations and makes sure to ask about the health and wellbeing of not only myself but my Mom, Dad, sister, and Cynthia's boyfriend. She's also a nurse with experience and knowledge. Every question we had, she answered, and if she didn't know the answer, she found the answer as soon as she could for us. She explained every part of Cynthia's care to us, to ensure we knew Cynthia was being well taken care of. She never once hesitated to advocate for Cynthia and our family when necessary. Delia made sure that we felt comfortable during our visits by talking to us and making us feel like we were more than just visitors for a patient. Under Delia's care, we left every day knowing that Cynthia would be safe and well taken care of.

With every act Delia does, she does it with love. We can feel that, and we know Cynthia can too. Delia is one of the rare nurses that talked to Cynthia and treated her like a real person, not an unresponsive patient. At one point in Cynthia's stay at UC Davis Medical Center, she was transferred to the sixth floor of the East Wing, because she was no longer in need of critical care. Despite this, Delia still went to check in on Cynthia and my family. Delia set the bar for all of Cynthia's future nurses and continued to raise it. My Mom and I have had the privilege of being able to visit Cynthia just about every day since her initial stroke. We take shifts to make sure we both get rest and can be present and energized when visiting Cynthia. At the end of our shifts, we relay information to each other and often describe the level of care from nurses as a 1-to-Delia, Delia being a '10', the absolute best.

There's no denying that my family and I are going through the worst possible time of our life, but we are so grateful to have met such incredible people like nurse Delia along this journey. I could write pages and pages trying to explain to you why Delia deserves this award but even that couldn't fully explain how Delia has touched our hearts forever. Throughout Cynthia's journey, we have encountered many great nurses, but only two truly went above and beyond to make sure Cynthia and my family had the best possible care at all times, and both work within the NSICU at UC Davis. If you want to know what components contribute to the makeup of a great nurse, just observe Delia's daily work. You'll see that every day she continues to spread her love and care to patients and their families. Delia has been a big, bright, warm light in a time of immense darkness in our family. I know that by nominating Delia for this DAISY award, I am only beginning to scratch the surface of thanking her for her incredible work, but regardless, she is worthy of this recognition. Thank you for your time. I sincerely hope that you consider Delia for this wonderful award.