Erica Reyes Recognized with Infirmary DAISY Award

Erica Reyes, RN, a Patient Care Coordinator on the Cardiovascular Unit at the Infirmary, was recognized with a DAISY Award for the attention to detail she showed to a recent patient.

Erica was nominated by the wife of a patient who had began experiencing pain after undergoing a mitral valve replacement about a month earlier.

After being re-admitted, the patient had surgery and was taken to Erica’s unit. During his recovery, the patient would drift in and out of coherency, which alarmed his wife. When Erica entered his room, she immediately realized something was wrong with his leg. She continued to care for him and he appeared well enough that his wife felt “more than comfortable leaving him in her care.”

Soon after she arrived home, Erica called the patient’s wife to say she was taking him for a CT because he was continuing to speak incoherently. After moving the patient to CVICU, the patient had surgery within a few hours for multiple hematomas in his leg. Erica checked on the patient and his wife several times that day, and when they moved to another unit, she came to check on us each night she worked.

“Erica is a caring nurse who went above and beyond in caring for my husband. I believe she played a crucial role in saving my husband’s life. I cannot be more grateful to her.”

The DAISY Award was established by the DAISY Foundation in memory of J. Patrick Barnes who died at 33 of ITP, an auto-immune disease. The Barnes Family was awestruck by the clinical skills, caring and compassion of the nurses who cared for Patrick, so they created the national award to thank nurses everywhere.