Last Saturday, Tracy was the Nursing Supervisor, and I was the ANM on shift on Weaver 4. One of the patients on our unit had an acute status change, and we initiated a rapid response, which quickly turned into a code stroke. Tracy arrived at the unit shortly after I messaged her and was very helpful throughout the process with the PICU team and the RR response team. She accompanied the primary nurse, me, and another nurse down to the MRI, where we quickly got the patient ready for the MRI.

Right after the patient was taken into the machine, her mother arrived from home hysterical. She knew her daughter had an acute change, but she didn't know what was happening. The mom was hyperventilating, crying, and struggling, not being able to see her daughter. Tracy approached the patient’s mom, got down to her eye level, and explained in detail what the acute change was and that when the patient went into the MRI, she was more alert. The mom was still struggling to calm down, so Tracy asked her if it was OK if she prayed with her, to which the mom agreed. Tracy prayed out loud with the mom, which instantly calmed her down and helped her focus on the situation at hand.

Tracy explained to Mom exactly what happened and was able to bring a huge sense of relief to her just by being a comforting hand. I know nursing supervisors are pulled in a lot of different directions, but that day, you would never have known it. While I was trying to assist the primary nurse and speak with the patient’s dad, Tracy did not hesitate to step in and help take care of the mom. She made a scary situation so much less scary for the mom, while also reassuring us that she was here to help in any way she could. The code stroke/RR would not have run as smoothly without her.

Congratulations, Tracy; thank you for all you do for our patients, families, and team members! You are an inspiration to us all

Note: This is Tracy's 2nd DAISY Award!