I am a Cystic Fibrosis patient and during my inpatient stay, the arm where my PICC line had been placed was painful and very swollen. Most of the day, the staff told me it was normal, but I've had PICC lines many times before and knew something wasn't right. Thankfully, when I mentioned the discomfort I felt to my nurse, Mollie, she took the time to evaluate my arm closely and immediately sprang into action. She contacted the on-call doctor and explained that she felt my arm needed to be examined. Doctor on-call said to check vitals. Mollie checked my vitals and they were good, so the doctor felt that I was okay and hung up.
My nurse wasn't comfortable with that because she knew me and knew something wasn't right, so she called the doctor back and requested the doctor to examine me, anyway. When the doctor came in to check my arm, she was immediately concerned and ordered testing. Turned out, a big clot had formed in the basilic vein in my arm from trauma caused by the PICC line.
The reason I am nominating Mollie for this award is that she strongly advocated for me because she had taken the time to not only listen to me but also to understand me and where I was coming from and she was genuinely concerned about me. Even when the doctor believed I was okay, Mollie understood that something more needed to be done and because of her actions and response to my complaints, we caught a serious complication, which I am now being treated for.
Also, when I was feeling overwhelmed because of everything I was going through, Mollie took the time out of her hectic schedule and let me vent to her, consoling me and hugging me when I needed it most. Mollie is skilled, compassionate, comforting, courageous, and an excellent nurse. All of them are, really, but Mollie goes above and beyond advocating for her patients.