Congratulations to our newest DAISY Award winner Luke Morales. Here is the story:

My 94-year-old father was a patient in the ED on January 17, 2024. We had Luke as our nurse and he was amazing. We went in thinking we would get a liter of fluids and leave. Unfortunately, we had a very different outcome, no fault of RMC. Luke accommodated my dad with all his numerous requests, most of which were to get more blankets. Luke never questioned him or gave him a hard time. He just kept bringing blankets. My dad HATES needles and was beyond fearful of having an IV started. He is also not a good stick. Luke not only kept my dad calm, he was able to insert the IV in 1 try with my dad not even realizing. This is a true accomplishment! We typically have to call the IV start team for him (where he requests Reagan – who is also amazing 😊). Additionally, in true dad fashion, my dad tried giving Luke unsolicited advice on his future both personally and professionally. While I wanted to crawl in a hole from embarrassment, Luke handled it like a champ. He listened, commented, and gave my father his complete undivided attention as though he had no other patients to tend to. It was such a grand gesture of kindness.

Due to a lab that was extremely out of range, they opted to keep my dad for observation and we were moved to the 3rd
floor. On the morning of January 18th my dad sneezed and essentially passed. After the sneeze where he didn’t raise his head, a code was called. The doctor had just entered the room when this happened and he remained throughout the process. He was very engaged with both me and my mom during the code, making sure my mom was able to make the decision she did with the greatest amount of confidence. I cannot say enough about the code team for their quick response and professionalism. I want to specifically point out the extra special response from ICU and Pharmacy. They made this unfortunate experience as pleasant as it could be based upon the situation. Their extra care and special touch with both me and my mom were most appreciated.

While I would love to tell you the story ends here…it does not. Unfortunately, 2 days later my mother fell and hit her head. Because she is on a blood thinner, that won her an immediate trip to the ED. I brought her in only to discover most of the staff that was working days earlier when I brought my dad in were working that evening, including Luke. He absolutely remembered us and could not believe we were back for my mom. While we didn’t get Luke as our nurse, we had another nurse who did a fine job. I would like to share that we were in and out of the ED in about 1 hour. This was amazing knowing a CT had to be taken and read before we would be allowed to leave. I feel like that was a record! The good news is there was no bleed detected and were able to go home.

I share all this because I feel most of the time you only get e-mails when things are negative. I think it is important for staff to be recognized for a job well done. The person above did a great job…also recognizing there were people in the background working just as great to allow for the quick turnaround times.

I appreciate the great care and response my parents received at RMC. I hope you will pass along the kudos to the teams from me and my family.