Deborah Klusman has been a registered nurse for nearly 40 years, with 18 of those years at Outpatient Surgery Woodbine. Deb takes on the management role at our Pre/PACU department. Her duties take on heavy workloads and high demands. However, this does not stop Deb from being an extraordinary nurse to her patients. Her patients and her employees are her top priority, and Deb goes above and beyond to meet their individual needs. When her staff is working short, she steps up and helps deliver patient care, relieves her staff to ensure they can get breaks and lunches, and leave on time according to their shift. Deb exceeds her management role by continuing to help others.

Deb is a great resource. She is quick to think and react to any situation. With any emergency within the OR and Pre/PACU areas, she is one of the first to respond and uses her critical thinking skills to support the team. Most recently, we had a co-worker experiencing chest pains and heaviness in their arms, and when Deb was alerted to the situation, she immediately took action by giving the employee aspirin and stayed with them until emergency personnel arrived.

There are many ways that Deb has been helpful to the patients at OSW. One of those ways was when a recent patient came in for a procedure and had symptoms of COVID-19. The patient was not able to do a home test before arriving. After talking with the patient, Deb went to the pharmacy in our facility to get a test kit for that patient. This is just another example of how Deb goes above and beyond to show her compassionate care for patients.

We would like to nominate Deborah Klusman for the DAISY award because of the compassion she shows daily to patients, family members, and all staff within our facility. She is the true meaning of teamwork, is an inspiring role model to all nurses, present and future, and is a great asset to our department.