Yousef came to AYA out of nursing school as a new graduate. He was unsure of where he wanted to start his nursing journey when we met at one of our job fairs. I quickly scooped him up and told him about all the fascinating things we do as Oncology nurses. I knew he belonged with our team, and Yousef took a leap of faith, making it one of the best decisions we both made.

I have had the privilege of watching him grow into an exceptional nurse who is kind, passionate, and unwavering in his dedication to his patients. Yousef has honed his nursing skills over these few years. He continues to strive for advancement in the nursing field by finishing his BSN, completing the USG PIV course, and now excelling in the role of Charge Nurse.

He possesses all the attributes you would want in a nurse; Clinical competence, attention to detail, adaptability, compassion and empathy, teamwork, advocacy, and emotional resilience.

Recently, I rounded on one of our patients who was newly diagnosed with blood cancer and a suspected solid tumor. He had multiple co-morbidities that made him an extremely high risk to start chemotherapy. The patient had been here for about a week already and was getting frustrated with waiting for treatment to start.

He shared with me that Yousef was his nurse the day that he finally began his chemo treatment. He told me how Yousef came in with “this huge stack of papers” detailing all his chemo drugs and how Yousef started to educate him on all the different medications confidently and clearly.

He looked up at Yousef and realized he wasn’t even reading the paperwork but going off memory, “How can he keep all that information in his head? How does he remember all of that?”, the patient exclaimed.

Earlier that shift, Yousef noticed redness around the patient’s PICC line and on his other hand. He promptly reported it to the provider team. When the Hematology team came by they immediately had Yousef stop the chemo for concerns of infection.

Yousef kept advocating for the patient. The patient became emotional and told the providers, “This young man is doing an excellent job taking care of me and I want to make sure nothing happens to him because of your delay.”

Over the next week, Yousef had taken care of this patient several times. Every time I would round on him, he would express that when Yousef was taking care of him, he felt at ease; he knew that Yousef would take care of everything.

“It’s a good day because my Guardian Angel is here today.”

Yousef was his nurse when this patient decided to forgo any further treatment and pursue Home Hospice. I watched Yousef stand by and support his decision, both of them tearing up with the reality of the moment.

This patient asked that Yousef be recognized for the spectacular nurse he is, “He deserves all the awards possible.” I told him about our DAISY Award, and he got excited about nominating him.

As part of his last wishes, he asked if I would make sure that Yousef got the recognition he deserved. He was too tired and in pain that he was unable to write his nomination.

I know my words do not do justice to the way he expressed the care and compassion Yousef gave to him during his stay with us. I wish you could have seen the look on his face as he talked about his amazing nurse.

This nomination is not just from me…it is from a grateful patient who saw in Yousef not only a nurse, but a guardian, an advocate, and a friend. I hope this nomination conveys even a small piece of the impact Yousef had on his life.

I will never forget the look on that patient’s face when he talked about “his Guardian Angel.”

Yousef Ismail represents everything the DAISY Award stands for. He is a truly remarkable nurse, and I can think of no one more deserving of this honor.