July 2012
Carrie
Cowen
,
RNIII
Heart Center/ CVICU
Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital
St. Petersburg
,
FL
United States

 

 

 

Carrie was one of the first nurses our son ever had here at All Children's hospital. Immediately we knew she was a nurse who is passionate about her career. She showed love, care and concern toward our son as if he were her own. She took the time to explain each thing she would do while caring for our son, including steps during assessment, medication administration, charting of vitals, and so on. While performing her nurse duties she willingly went above them to begin molding us into well-informed, knowledgeable, confident parents of a cardiac kid.

When our son's shunt clotted on March 26th, she was one of the first nurses to rush into the room. Once she saw our son was in good hands, she came over to us to explain each thing that was happening. Her calm, focused, and honest demeanor relaxed us, if only for a little, and helped to keep our heads focused while our hearts were breaking. This is a moment in time we will never forget and we will be forever grateful for each staff member who responded to that Code Blue, specifically Carrie who recognized that other great staff members were addressing our son's emergent situation and instead of walking out, chose to address our fragile state as parents and gave us the support, compassion, and information we needed.

Carrie truly is a nurse who goes above and beyond her expected duties... because she wants to, not because she has to. For this and her other wonderful qualities, we feel Carrie has earned the DAISY Award.