I believe PJ exemplifies a DAISY nurse for several reasons. After my 4-month-old daughter had heart surgery, I was anxious for the first night. My husband was home with our toddler, and I was all alone with a tiny recovering baby. She was so small and covered in tubes and wires. I wanted nothing more than to hold her and make her feel safe. I stood at her crib weeping, and PJ got me water, sat me down, and went to find another nurse. Together, they dealt with nearly 20 cords and tubes and delivered my baby into my arms. I had expected to nurse her by hovering over her bed, but PJ made it possible for me to hold and nurse her. He didn’t need to go to the extra trouble; the doctor had already told me I’d need to do gymnastics to nurse her while she recovered as there were too many cords and tubes to transfer her out of her bed. PJ decided to care for her as a whole person and saw that she needed her mom.

He knew I was anxious about her chest tube becoming milky because she couldn’t take a bottle, and stopping breastfeeding due to a complication would have been devastating. Over the course of his 12-hour shift, he checked the tube every hour on the hour to bring assurance to me. He also knew I was really anxious about her having to get another IV because it took over two hours to place the IVs prior to surgery and dozens of tries. He checked her IV hourly to ensure it was in the correct position so she wouldn’t need another one. He soothed her with confidence, calling her by the nickname he heard me calling her.

I held her all night in my arms while she slept and ate. Around 5 am, he came in and said, “You need to sleep too. I’ll be here and watch you two while you sleep to make sure she’s safe. I’m watching you two like a hawk.” And he let me nap for a little while holding my baby. The level of compassion he showed my baby was unmatched by any other nurse I saw during our PCICU stay. He really went above and beyond in caring for my daughter. The very first smile she gave after surgery was to him in the morning. I’m not sure what my night would’ve been like if my daughter hadn’t had such an empathetic, compassionate, and kind nurse to go above and beyond for her care. We were discharged two days early because she was doing so well, and I know I owe a lot of that to being able to hold her and nurse her, which is all due to PJ's compassion, patience, and going the extra mile.