Dole Registered Nurse Recognized with Daisy Award
RN Nathen Yunker was recently caring for a 76-year-old Veteran with lung cancer and metastasis to the bone.
The plan was to treat the patient and send him home on hospice. The Veteran’s family members were present and very involved, often at the bedside.
The Veteran’s primary concern during his admission was to have his toenails trimmed. It was the focus of multiple conversations. Even the pharmacist working with him was well aware of his toenail concerns.
Although this wasn’t the medical team’s primary priority, Nurse Yunker took the initiative to make it his own. He reached out to Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN) Sunshine Vanderboom in Podiatry, and they were able to make an appointment to get his nails trimmed while in the ICU at a time that worked for both the Veteran’s medical needs and the Podiatry clinic’s schedule. It is not customary to take a critically ill patients to outpatient appointments, yet they saw this need as a palliative patient priority.
They respected the patient and provided a service important to him, and the entire ICU team noticed he was in a much better mood after getting his toenails trimmed.
Additionally, this Veteran had not been eating much despite assistance from the kitchen, a dietary consult, and encouragement from family. Nurse Yunker shared that his spouse had spent the previous day making homemade chicken noodle soup. The patient stated it sounded good, so Nathen went home, fixed a bowl of soup, and brought it back for the Veteran. The Veteran managed a few spoonsful, which was more than he usually eats, and Nathen saved the rest as dinner for the next night.
Nurse Yunker showed compassion as a critical care nurse, and his kind gestures made a big difference for the Veteran and his family.
The DAISY Award is a national recognition program to celebrate and recognize nurses by collecting nominations from patients, families, and co-workers. Any licensed, registered nurse, nursing faculty or nursing student is eligible to be nominated for a DAISY Award. Nurses can be nominated by anyone including patients, family members, other nurses, physicians, clinicians, or staff - who experience or observe extraordinarily compassionate care being provided by a nurse.