As the parent of a severely disabled son, I have spent a great deal of time over the past 39 years with him in the hospital. Most of that time has been at Hershey Medical Center, where he has gotten excellent care from many healthcare professionals. D cannot talk, has spastic quadriplegia, is cortically blind, has a seizure disorder, is fed by gastrostomy tube, and has requirements for different types of positioning to avoid aspiration. He can be a daunting challenge for anyone, particularly those not familiar with him. Because of his situation, if D is admitted to the hospital, I stay with him the whole time to serve as his interpreter and to assist as needed. This gives me the opportunity to see the nurses in action over their entire shifts.

D was admitted to the ICU for complications of COVID and was discharged a week later. Needless to say, it was a stressful time, especially at night when his condition routinely deteriorated. Madison (Maddie) works nights and before becoming his primary nurse on the last night of his stay, she had been called in several times to help the nurse assigned to D's care. This gave me several chances to observe her in action.

I spent each night on a recliner next to D's bed and would check on him whenever I woke up so I was able to see that Maddie took exceptional care of D. He needs to be positioned completely on his side and turned every two hours to avoid both aspiration and pressure sores. Maddie picked up on the details immediately and explained the reason to nurses who came in to help her turn him, but questioned why he had to be so far over on his side. D also needs to be elevated at least 35 degrees during and an hour after receiving any bolus food or fluids to avoid aspiration, after which he can be lowered to a more comfortable angle. Maddie was the most conscientious of his nurses in fulfilling those needs, which allowed me to relax and get some much-needed sleep. I also appreciated the compassion she showed in pulling his blanket up to his neck. D cannot do any purposeful movement because of his spasticity and cannot talk to let someone know he is cold. It is a common occurrence when D is hospitalized that the nurses cover him only to his mid-chest, which leaves his arms exposed in the cool room. I am always pulling the covers up to make sure that he is warm whenever I wake up. I didn't have to do that with Maddie. She did it on her own.

And finally, I was very impressed by Maddie's unfailingly positive attitude and high energy. She was upbeat and genuinely friendly, not only when she came in to help her colleague who was assigned to D's care, but the entire night that she was his primary nurse. I had the chance to talk with her and found out that she follows a healthy lifestyle. She was as peppy at 7 AM as she was at 7 PM, which is a testament to her lifestyle and a shining example of modeling what true health care really means.

In summary, Madison Johnson-Chen demonstrates the compassion, skills, and attitude that not only contributed to our son's recovery but also helped me weather this stressful time. I feel she is a credit to Hershey Medical Center and her profession and, therefore, a worthy recipient of the DAISY Award.