The night we brought our son to the Emergency Department was one of the scariest moments of our lives. Maverick has a history of two congenital heart conditions that have thankfully been stable, but when he woke suddenly with severe abdominal pain and quickly became limp in my arms, my mind immediately went to the worst-case scenarios. I was terrified something might be wrong with his heart.

When we arrived, Jess, the Charge Nurse that night, moved with a calm urgency that immediately made a difference. She quickly escorted us to a room and listened carefully as I explained my son's medical history and what had happened. While he was barely responsive and had a very low heart rate, Jess and the other nurse efficiently connected him to monitors and began evaluating him.

Even in that intense moment, Jess reassured me that they would move quickly, start IV fluids, and get him to CT right away. What stood out most was how Jess seemed to lead the room with quiet confidence. Her quick response and coordination with the rest of the Emergency Department team ensured my son received prompt care when every minute felt critical.

As testing continued and the cause of his symptoms wasn’t immediately clear, Jess kept thinking ahead. When his labs revealed a very low potassium level but no obvious explanation, she encouraged us to allow viral testing so we could hopefully get closer to an answer. Earlier that night, before we left for the hospital, I had made what I thought was a harmless promise to my six-year-old: “No swabs.” To him, that is apparently the worst thing that can happen when you go to the ER. Jess handled the situation with kindness and skill, performing the swab so quickly and gently that it was over before the drama could really begin—though not before he woke up and immediately said, “You promised no swabs!”

Even in such a frightening situation, that moment gave us a small laugh we really needed. That simple swab ended up giving us the answer we were searching for and helped explain why he had become so sick. Jess advocated for him when the situation didn’t immediately make sense, and her persistence helped guide us toward the diagnosis.

Jess’s compassion, clinical judgment, leadership, and advocacy that night embody exactly what the DAISY Award is meant to recognize. She provided extraordinary nursing care not only through her clinical skill and quick action, but also through the reassurance, patience, and humanity she showed our family during one of the most frightening moments of our lives and when I, as his mother, was not my "best self."

Morris Hospital is incredibly fortunate to have someone like Jess caring for patients in the middle of the night while the rest of us are home asleep. She will forever be part of our family’s story, and we will always be grateful for the care she gave our son when we needed it most.