Juliet Westermann Honored With DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses
Recognized for 'keen awareness to patient and visitor needs'
Juliet Westermann, BSN, RN, CCRN, of Wilmington Hospital, has received the DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses.
ChristianaCare DAISY Award recipients are nurses recognized for meeting and exceeding the needs and expectations of patients and families by displaying exceptional clinical skills, compassion, calm, respect and partnership.
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Westermann, a nurse in the hospital’s intensive care unit, was nominated by co-worker Darby Gallo, BSN, RN, CMSRN, CCRN, who was impressed by her colleague’s “keen awareness to patient and visitor needs.”
Gallo recalled a particular encounter last year when Westermann’s empathy shined through. Westermann developed an “incredibly respectful rapport” with the family member of a patient who was in the process of brain death, Gallo wrote in her nomination. Westermann “noticed how heavy his need for support was in this unexpected time.”
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Westermann acted as an intermediary between the distraught family member and the care team, Gallo wrote. “She found the balance of clarifying the medical updates for him to understand,” Gallo wrote. “But, more importantly, she recognized his individual needs — walking by his side through waves of anxiety, sadness, frustration and loss.”
When the patient was pronounced brain dead, her family signed on with Gift of Life, the organ donation program. Gallo wrote that she believed Westermann’s support of the family had helped them to “be in an emotionally accepting place to make such a selfless decision to provide care and support for many other patients and families that could be recipients of the organ donation.”
The Professional Nurse Council at ChristianaCare selects DAISY Award recipients using an anonymous selection process based on nominations from patients, families and all members of the ChristianaCare team. All nurses — inpatient, outpatient and ChristianaCare HomeHealth — are eligible.
