A new nurse who was hired to work on the Burn ICU Unit had an unfortunate event. One early morning her brother had been in an ATV accident and suffered a traumatic brain injury that was fatal. Our Trauma Nurse, Kyra, had precepted our newer Burn ICU nurse while she was on orientation on the surgical/trauma ICU and then also provided care for the nurse's brother. The patient's wife had expressed an interest in harvesting sperm before her new husband expired as death was imminent. It was a Sunday morning and Kristen Keefe, our clinical leader, immediately started making phone calls to urology. She was quickly trying to find out as much information as she could about harvesting the sperm. Dana Lonis, our SWAT nurse, was rounding on the unit and she started making phone calls to another institution where she had a friend who knew of an infertility doctor. The friend texted Dana back and gave her Dr. Kiltz phone number and she and Kristen Keefe called Dr. Kiltz's office and left a message. They tried their best to help our new nurse cope with the imminent death of her brother and to fulfill the wish of the wife. The whole family was at the bedside and our team of nurses worked so hard to make their wish come true on a Sunday morning.
After a short while, Dr. Kiltz came walking on the unit with his supplies in hand and discussed the case with our Urology physician, Dr. Blakely. Dr. Blakely and Dr. Kiltz were able to harvest the sperm and the nurses, Kristen, Dana and Kyra were able to help this family in the most difficult time. They went above and beyond and found the necessary resources to help this family.
DAISY Team Award Honorees:
Kyra Danneker, RN Staff Nurse on Surgical/Trauma ICU (Pictured);
Kristen Keefe, RN, CCRN Clinical Leader on Surgical/Trauma ICU;
Dana Lonis, BSN, RN, CCRN, Staff Nurse on SWAT Team;
Dr. Stephen Blakely, MD of Urology;
Dr. Robert J. Kiltz, Physician of CNY Fertility (Pictured)