Audrey Drake is one of those RNs who could go under the radar while quietly being the glue that holds everything together during a shift. However, she exemplifies a true DAISY Nurse! Audrey has been on our unit for almost 3 years, but it was so very clear when she was doing her senior preceptorship with us that she was of the highest caliber. Audrey is a friend to everyone, she is supportive of her teammates while balancing her own patient load, and frequently answers call lights that are not her own. She is a resource nurse on our unit, even when not titled so. When I have been resource, I can't tell you how many times Audrey has stepped in to help me out during a busy day. She never shirks her duties and consistently goes above and beyond to assist her coworkers towards providing safer, more efficient patient care (and better patient outcomes!).
Audrey speaks Spanish and thus, gets a large majority of our Spanish-speaking patients. We have multiple long-term Spanish-speaking patients who come in every couple of weeks for chemotherapy, and even if Audrey is not their nurse, she takes a moment from her day to say hi to them while they walk the hallway, check-in, and make sure that they are getting their needs met. To be able to communicate in their own language with her is truly a gift.
She is regularly a preceptor for students and new hires, and in those situations, she thrives. She was meant to be an educator and gravitates towards teaching opportunities, which is a rare quality. Audrey is extremely bright, always researching best practice and is an incredible wealth of knowledge when it comes to chemotherapy and biotherapy. She has clearly put in extra time in order to be an expert, and I always appreciate having her weigh in on tough chemotherapy situations. Audrey has her OCN certification and is the co-chair of our Unit Council. She is also on the unit's Compassion Committee, which looks to support staff and patients alike. Audrey has been a part of our patient acuity project as well as working arduously to help solve the blood culture central line lab draw conundrum! She is a big part of our Relay for Life team which entails quite a bit of fundraising and hours of work outside of the hospital.
We had an elderly male patient who had had recurrent admissions to our unit for over 6 months. He had a complicated oncology history, in which that several days after each discharge, he would be re-admitted for the same issues. He had a wife but no children and no family nearby as they were originally from out of state. After a particularly long stint in the hospital, numbering over 80 days, the patient was preparing for discharge. Audrey was caring for him on a day that his wife mentioned they had 5 acres of land in the country that had gone haywire with all of the hospital admissions. The wife had been trying to keep up but was also trying to work and see the patient in the hospital daily. Audrey mentioned the situation to a coworker and felt there must be something we could do for them. Through brainstorming and some fabulous organizational skills, Audrey was able to pull a team of 6 coworkers together to help with yard work. We worked on their property for several hours and then ate lunch with them on their patio. The patient, a fairly guarded man, expressed his love for us (while all of us tried not to cry).
Audrey is such a phenomenal nurse. She cares so deeply about the patient both in and out of the hospital and truly sees beyond their diagnosis. I am so proud to call her coworker and friend.