Last week, I was standing in the hallway with Makisha when a patient's family walked by on their way out. The patient's daughter stopped and wanted to say thank you to Makisha, she told her "Your kind words really put me at ease this morning and helped me feel better, thank you". After that, she left, and Makisha went on to tell me that she had actually taken care of this patient days prior. The patient was going through a lot medically and was nearing her end stages of life. Makisha said the family made a difficult decision to put their mother in Hospice care. After they made this decision, Makisha spoke to them about how they made the right choice for their mom and how making her comfortable during this time was the best thing they could do for her. She told me they bonded for quite a while and cried together that day. The day that the woman thanked her in front of me, Makisha was not her nurse. But I found out that Makisha had taken the time to go into the patient's room that morning to check on the patient and her family anyways. At that time, the patient was no longer opening her eyes or speaking anymore. Her daughter was very saddened by this and did not know what to do. Makisha told her to keep sitting with her and talking to her, that "hearing is the last to go and your mom can hear you". This is what the woman was referring to when she stopped and told Makisha thank you that day.

I wanted to nominate her for this DAISY Award because I felt that what I got to witness was the definition of nursing. Being vulnerable, caring, kind, and empathetic with people- even when they are not "your patients". Taking that extra time with patients and families who really need it as they are going through some of their hardest times. Our unit is often very busy, so taking this extra time really shows how much she cares. As she told me the back story to all of this, we both cried talking about these beautiful- and sometimes sad moments that we get to experience as nurses- the moments that really matter.