Kendall Thomas, RN IV, H4 – Trauma Surgical Cardiovascular Intensive Care
Please join the Center for Nursing Excellence in congratulating Kendall Thomas, RN IV, for being selected as the DAISY Award recipient for the month of February!
Kendall Thomas, RN IV, H4 – Trauma Surgical Cardiovascular Intensive Care, and was nominated by a Family Member of a Patient. The nomination below reflects how Kendall impacted their lifes in a very special way.
Nomination:
Our family member was in a motorcycle accident just a few days before Thanksgiving and those first few days were terrifying for us as parents. Our family member had bleeding in the brain along with swelling and was unconscious for many days after the medical sedation was removed with a multitude of broken bones in the face, legs, arms and hands. While our family member received great care from nearly all the nurses in the H Unit, we feel that Kendall went above and beyond for us. She has a demeanor that does not take away the seriousness of the situation but puts the family at ease making the situation less stressful.
When giving medications, blood, etc., Kendall would always take the time to explain to us what she was doing even in the days that our family member was still unconscious. Kendall also made sure that we had all of the blood donor numbers and websites so we could send thank you notes.
She spoke to our family member with compassion, much in the same way a mother would with her child who was confused about a new situation in their life. That meant the world to me!!
I nearly cried when Kendall took the time to brush all of the debris left from the accident out of our family member’s hair and braided just like our family member loves it done. It looked so pretty and was not in the face or becoming tangled in medical equipment.
She took the time to give our family member a thorough bath every day, washing everywhere that was not covered by a bandage, brace or splint.
We had to go home every night to care for our animals and to feed my service dog. Each morning when we arrived, Kendall would take the time to explain to us how our family member’s night had went. Then at the end of her shift she would take the time to tell us who our family member’s night nurse would be. There was never a moment when we were not informed about the plans for treatment.
If we did not completely understand something one of the doctors would tell us or if we thought of something long after the doctor was out of the room, Kendall would do her best to answer it for us. If it was something she could not answer, she found the answer for us. She listened to each of our concerns and did her best to fix them.
Our family member was on the unit for 13 days. There were only 5 days that Kendall was not our family member’s nurse. Kendall picked up extra shifts and traded rooms so she could care for our family member. It wasn’t because our family member was easy to care for but because Kendall cared for our family member. Even after we were moved, Kendall would stop by our room every few days to check us.
Nominating her for this award is one way we can show Kendall exactly how much we appreciate everything she did for our family member and our family.
Thank you, Kendall!