Natalie Rivas, RN, Medical Intensive Care Unit (MICU), is the October DAISY Award recipient at Stony Brook University Hospital. 

Natalie was nominated by the wife of a patient who had experienced complications as a result of his cancer diagnosis and previous stem cell transplant.

The patient’s wife is a nurse herself but was not prepared to be on the other side of a medical crisis impacting her husband. Natalie recognized that both the patient and his wife were scared, and she helped to calm their fears and keep them both informed each step of the way. She would call the patient’s wife in the evening to provide her with updates and help to reassure her once her husband was placed on a ventilator. This patient was in the MICU for two weeks, and Natalie sought out the patient and his wife even when she wasn’t the patient’s primary nurse to give them both encouragement and offer any assistance.

Unfortunately, the patient passed away in hospice, but the patient’s wife stated, “There isn’t much I care to remember about that last hospital stay, but I will never forget the compassionate care that my husband and I received from his wonderful nurse Natalie, and I will always be grateful that she came into our lives at this time.”