It is with great pride that I nominate my team member, Nicole Walkowiak, for the DAISY Health Equity Award. Nicole works full time as a WOCN at RUMC and provides inpatient wound consultation, leads quality improvement projects, and develops staff education programs. She also volunteers each Saturday with the Night Ministry Medicine Team. This team brings free health care and outreach to unhoused individuals by visiting encampments, expressway viaducts, and street corners in underserved areas across the city of Chicago. Nicole travels with a nurse practitioner, case manager, and street medicine outreach professional to address immediate health needs and then link individuals to services for continued care and support. While working with the street medicine team, Nicole manages vascular leg ulcers, foot wounds, and abscesses. Nicole’s particular area of expertise, however, is the treatment of wounds due to injection drug use, which can cause tissue necrosis, chronic wounds, infection, and limb loss. 

To address the need for standardized wound care for unhoused clients in Chicago, Nicole applied for and received the Albert Schwetizer Fellowship. Schweitzer Fellows are required to design, implement, and evaluate a sustainable community-based prevention project that addresses the social determinants of health.

Her work began by establishing rapport and trust with the street medicine team and the individuals whom they serve. She provided expert wound assessment, debridement, and dressing changes coupled with consistent patient education on proper wound care and harm reduction. She developed wound treatment guidelines with standard interventions and educated street medicine providers on wound assessment and management. She raised funds and worked with industry partners to obtain ongoing charitable donations of wound care supplies. These supplies are for the creation of wound care kits that can be dispensed along with printed instructions and an established follow-up plan during client encounters. 

Homelessness has been increasing in the US as a result of economic recessions, rising housing costs, and the recent migrant crisis. Unhoused members of the community have higher rates of illness and are more likely to die at a younger age. Providing best wound care practices and treatment can aid in harm reduction, decrease infection, and prevent limb loss, sepsis, and death. To achieve these goals, Nicole works with the Night Ministry to provide supportive care, nutrition, and medications, manage coexisting conditions, and make necessary referrals. She goes above and beyond by volunteering to provide wound care for the homeless in Chicago. By leading the Night Ministry Street Medicine Team and collaborating with other local street medicine teams, Nicole aspires to provide consistent wound care and harm reduction for all unhoused individuals across the Chicago area.

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