Anne Ferguson
November 2015
Anne
Ferguson
,
RN
Float Pool
Harborview Medical Center
Seattle
,
WA
United States

 

 

 

...Anne has earned my respect for her exceptional patient care and unwavering commitment to patient advocacy. Her dedication to doing what's right for the patients she serves is humbling. She truly honors her profession this way. Although Anne has done many things that have deserved a nomination for the DAISY award in the past, the reason I am nominating her today is for her direct involvement for obtaining TVs in ED East. For as long as I have been in the Float Pool at HMC we have cared for patients in ED East, a 5 bed unit void of natural light and any visual distraction. The beds are separated by curtains and the space they occupy barely allows for anyone to walk around. In all that time I have seen many attempts to obtain TVs for those spaces. Anne knew that providing the most minimal distraction would be the right thing to do, so she wrote describing the environment and the need to provide patients with a little relief from the constant bombardment of patient care stimuli. They immediately responded and asked that this request be granted. And ultimately, TVs were installed. One of my most rewarding moments as a manager came when I was rounding on a patient who was in ED East before, during, and after the installation of TVs. He was miserable and unhappy the day I first talked to him. He was unhappy that he had nothing to do but lay there hour after hour. The next day TVs were installed and I was able to talk to him after. He was laying there in bed with headphones on watching the new TV. He said "Wow my complaining yesterday really paid off. Did you make this happen?" I said "many people made this happen, but there is only one person to thank, and she is a nurse named Anne."

This story illustrates the lengths Anne will go to, to advocate for excellent patient care. She is not afraid to challenge the status quo if she believes it is not the best for the patients. She offers solutions based on research to tough and challenging issues. She questions practices that aren't rooted in sound evidence. She does this because she knows it's right for our patients. To me this is the true spirit of the DAISY nurse and Anne is the example I want to live up to.