The oncology service line is blessed to have a spectacular group of infusion nurses that go above and beyond for our oncology patients on a daily basis. However, recently, Lorena Vicente stood out to me for her kindness and dedication to one of my very sick patients. This patient was diagnosed with a diffuse large B cell lymphoma. He is a patient who, unfortunately, has no social support, so he arrived at his first treatment alone. When he arrived to the infusion center, he was unable to make it from his car to the center. Lorena immediately retrieved a wheelchair to assist the patient.

As Lorena spent time with the patient, educating him on his chemotherapy medications, the patient was unable to get comfortable. She went above and beyond re-positioning him MANY times during his 8-hour chemotherapy treatment. At one point, he felt SOB and insisted on walking up and down the infusion center (although he felt extremely weak), so she slowly held his arm and comforted him while she walked with him. At the end of the day, I decided that he needed to go to the emergency room. Lorena personally brought him down and waited with him until the ED was ready to assist him.

Because of Lorena, this patient was able to complete the treatment that was needed before being admitted. Her patience with him stood out to me that day as she never seemed to get frustrated with him calling her name every 10 minutes (despite her juggling 5 other patients). I am nominating Lorena for a DAISY Award as she provided extraordinary, compassionate care for this patient.