I am writing to nominate Courtney Wilson, Psychiatric Liaison, for the DAISY Award. I cannot make this nomination without sharing the story of my journey through a harrowing storm, and the nurse who provided comfort from the torrent and peace in the eye. 

I am a 56-year-old woman with a career spanning three decades in pediatric and school health nursing.   I am an incredibly proud mother of five adult children and a doting Nonni to three sweet little granddaughters. However, the winds shifted, and I began experiencing nocturnal panic attacks.  To acquire needed sleep, my primary care physician prescribed anxiety/antihistamine medication. Unfortunately, it began to get cloudy and rainy, because the medication caused sedation and depression in its path, which were completely outside of my charitable, active, thriving norm. 

Seeking relief from the pending storm, I was referred to a psychiatrist who prescribed an SSRI, as my mother had tolerated it well. The wind heaved, but I was unaware of how devastating the storm on the horizon would be. Thunder rumbled and shook the foundation of my soul. Within the first week of taking the SSRI, I experienced severe agitation, insomnia, restlessness, and a burning sensation throughout my body that was inexhaustible and unquenchable.  The searing pain felt like lightning burning me from within. This storm would batter my body relentlessly for a month, waiting for the SSRI to demonstrate any benefit.   The clouds were ominous and the gale force winds so violent, that the roof of my soul heaved off, and I was in utter darkness and consumed by thoughts of self-harm. My grief-stricken and desperate family, together with a new psychiatrist, made the agonizing decision to be admitted to a mental health facility and to be safely weaned from the current SSRI.  Unbeknownst to me, the anxiety/antihistamine medication was trying to suppress Mast Cell Activation Syndrome triggered by the SSRI.  

In the facility, I was now fully engulfed emotionally by the storm in a strange environment alone, scared, and dejected.  Hail pelted and stung my skin, and then the storm became catastrophic to my body.  Millions of bugs seared, stung, and burned like fire marching across every inch of my body with insatiable hives and edema. Three trips to Mount Nittany Medical Center Emergency Room for Mast Cell Activation Syndrome, to subdue the storm in my body.  I was thereafter admitted to Mount Nittany.  Once settled on the floor, I was unaware I was on suicide watch.  I was feeling scared and alone after 3 Epi-Pen administrations in 24 hours, countless IV medications, and now urinating blood.  I desperately needed the shelter of my family's support. I asked for a telephone to call them, and although I was given one, I was soon informed that I was not permitted to use it or have my loved ones by my side. As a nurse myself, I have dedicated my life to providing shelter and to healing others by advocating for their well-being as a whole person worthy of dignity.  My mind and heart could not fathom these further assaults from this storm. I asked for an Advocate to shelter me. 

Like the peace in the eye of the storm or a gentle rain after a torrential downpour, Courtney Wilson, the Psychiatry Liaison, entered my room. She immediately validated my every medical concern and fear.  She acknowledged the pain of being denied my support system during such a crisis and did not justify it.  She sought to understand and to initiate change.  She understood that to calm the storm, she first needed to calm the soul in crisis.  She braced herself and put her back against the storm to protect me with her presence, which was firm, yet compassionate, and she advocated for my needed mental health support when I could not do so for myself. She spoke clearly and uprighted me against shifting winds regarding processes and expectations. She steadied me in the storm with her genuine care, guidance, compassion, and determined follow-up.  Her actions restored my strength and my dignity to weather the remainder of the storm of this hospitalization through validation, empathy, encouragement, compassion, and reassurance. 

I am nominating Courtney Wilson for the DAISY Award because her impact went beyond providing excellent, holistic care. Her actions reduced the stigma and the unconscious bias surrounding mental health among her peers, reminding us all that anyone can suffer a crisis. Courtney Wilson is my hero, my DAISY. I am forever grateful for the shelter she provided me during the darkest time of my life.  Because of her efforts and professionalism, the storm subsided, allowing a new DAISY to bloom. 

“I admire the people who drink from the water of the storms of their lives and grow flowers (DAISIES) in the most unlikely places.”  - S. C. Lourie