Sherly Joseph, RN

My father's health had been significantly declining over the past several months following a hospitalization. His admission was his second hospitalization within two months. Throughout his stay, the healthcare team provided exceptional patient-centered care. As my father's POA, many decisions were made through collaborative patient-physician shared decision-making, which was reassuring.

Within two days of admission, our family made the difficult decision to transition him to hospice care to ensure he was as comfortable as possible. During this admission, Sherly served as the charge nurse for the majority of his stay.

Sherly consistently took the time to answer all of my questions and proactively communicated with the hospice team whenever care plans needed updating. Every interaction we had with Sherly was professional, compassionate, and sincerely empathetic.

Sherly ensured my father was repositioned every two hours and helped guide the primary nurse in providing the highest level of comfort possible for him. For example, my father would become agitated, moan, grimace, and ball his fists when being turned. When Sherly noticed these signs, she would guide the nurses in providing medication as needed. She always made my father’s comfort a top priority.

During my father’s final hour, Sherly quickly joined us, offering reassurance and support to both my mother and me. A few moments later, I believed my father had taken his last breath. Sherly calmly assessed the situation while continuing to comfort us.

Even amidst the chaos of the unit, Sherly never missed a beat. She provided another available team member so that no patient care was delayed, while still remaining fully present with our family.

She gave my mother and me the space to hold my father’s hand, say our final goodbyes, and reassure him that we would be okay before he took his final breaths. She allowed us the dignity and privacy to grieve, offered heartfelt condolences, and thoughtfully removed distractions such as paperwork and donation checklists that could have interrupted those precious final moments.

As the rest of our family slowly arrived to say their goodbyes, Sherly continued to periodically check on us, offering tissues, water, and comfort in any way she could.

For all of these reasons, Sherly exemplifies the very pinnacle of nursing care. Her compassion, professionalism, advocacy, and humanity left a lasting impact on our family during a painful experience in our lives. We wholeheartedly believe she is deserving of a DAISY Award.