Deb Young
September 2025
Deb
Young
,
MSN, RN
6th Floor
Children's Minnesota
Minneapolis
,
MN
United States
“I had tears in my eyes when I went back upstairs, and Deb was the only thing that helped me keep it together.”
There are innumerable stories of how Deb has improved patient care at Children’s. One example happened today when Deb stepped up for a patient and his mother in unique ways on the day of discharge.
This patient had been flown to the Twin Cities from a rural area of Minnesota and, as such, had no vehicle to get them back home. The day before discharge, Deb was already at work, calling the patient’s insurance and scheduling a medical transportation ride to get them to their home on a Sunday, which case management said was “nearly an impossible feat.” The medical transportation group just needed to pick the patient up at a specific time, and Deb was instrumental in corralling the hospitalist team and residents to make it happen.
She brought the patient and his mom out to the front of the hospital to wait for their ride, only to find that the insurance-arranged ride fell through and they were left stranded on a bench outside the hospital. When the mom came back upstairs to see what we could do to help, Deb quickly pivoted, contacting social work to find another way to get the patient and his mom home. Thankfully, social work had a plan, a taxi ride to the bus station, and a bus ticket for them to get home.
Once again, the patient’s mom took him to the bench outside the main entrance, and they waited for their ride, only to wait more than an hour with no taxi to be found. They were stranded again, with no way to get to the bus station.
In the mom’s words, “I had tears in my eyes when I went back upstairs, and Deb was the only thing that helped me keep it together.”
Once again, Deb pivoted. Since they missed the only daily bus to their home, they would have to stay in the Twin Cities and try to get home the following day. Deb worked with social services to arrange a hotel room and finally saw the two of them off to their hotel.
In typical Deb fashion, she called the patient’s mom to make sure everything was okay at their hotel. In their conversation, the mom realized that the J-tube feeding bags from the home care discharge supplies were nowhere to be found. She wouldn't be able to give her son any feeds without the feeding bags.
Deb showed up again, calling the home care agency and pleading with them to courier the specialty feeding bags to the patient’s hotel room. When they said it would be challenging to deliver them on a Sunday, Deb searched through multiple supply rooms to see if we had any of the feeding bags that the patient needed.
After calling the home care agency and the patient’s mom numerous times, so many times that she memorized the phone number, the feeding bags were able to be delivered, and the patient got the nutrition he needed.
In this, Deb represented everything that the DAISY award stands for. When I spoke with the patient’s mom later in the evening to discuss a feeding plan, she shared that she wanted to nominate Deb for the immeasurable difference she made in her life today.
This patient had been flown to the Twin Cities from a rural area of Minnesota and, as such, had no vehicle to get them back home. The day before discharge, Deb was already at work, calling the patient’s insurance and scheduling a medical transportation ride to get them to their home on a Sunday, which case management said was “nearly an impossible feat.” The medical transportation group just needed to pick the patient up at a specific time, and Deb was instrumental in corralling the hospitalist team and residents to make it happen.
She brought the patient and his mom out to the front of the hospital to wait for their ride, only to find that the insurance-arranged ride fell through and they were left stranded on a bench outside the hospital. When the mom came back upstairs to see what we could do to help, Deb quickly pivoted, contacting social work to find another way to get the patient and his mom home. Thankfully, social work had a plan, a taxi ride to the bus station, and a bus ticket for them to get home.
Once again, the patient’s mom took him to the bench outside the main entrance, and they waited for their ride, only to wait more than an hour with no taxi to be found. They were stranded again, with no way to get to the bus station.
In the mom’s words, “I had tears in my eyes when I went back upstairs, and Deb was the only thing that helped me keep it together.”
Once again, Deb pivoted. Since they missed the only daily bus to their home, they would have to stay in the Twin Cities and try to get home the following day. Deb worked with social services to arrange a hotel room and finally saw the two of them off to their hotel.
In typical Deb fashion, she called the patient’s mom to make sure everything was okay at their hotel. In their conversation, the mom realized that the J-tube feeding bags from the home care discharge supplies were nowhere to be found. She wouldn't be able to give her son any feeds without the feeding bags.
Deb showed up again, calling the home care agency and pleading with them to courier the specialty feeding bags to the patient’s hotel room. When they said it would be challenging to deliver them on a Sunday, Deb searched through multiple supply rooms to see if we had any of the feeding bags that the patient needed.
After calling the home care agency and the patient’s mom numerous times, so many times that she memorized the phone number, the feeding bags were able to be delivered, and the patient got the nutrition he needed.
In this, Deb represented everything that the DAISY award stands for. When I spoke with the patient’s mom later in the evening to discuss a feeding plan, she shared that she wanted to nominate Deb for the immeasurable difference she made in her life today.