Nurse Practitioner honored for emergency care of colleague

The Press-Republican, Plattsburgh, N.Y.
·4 min read

May 22—PLATTSBURGH — A Nurse Practitioner who provided emergency care to a nurse suffering from a heart attack has been honored as the latest recipient of The DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses at The University of Vermont Health Network-Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital (CVPH).

Rachael Hite, FNP-BC, OCN was presented the award during a surprise ceremony with her CVPH FitzPatrick Cancer Center (FCC) team during Nurses Week.

19TH HONORED

Hite is CVPH's 19th nurse to receive the honor since its inception in 2018. She was nominated by Cheryl Brunet, a Registered Nurse in the FCC, who began presenting symptoms of a heart attack at the beginning of a shift in January. Hite immediately began a medical assessment, including checking Brunet's vital signs, and talked to her about needing to go to the Emergency Department (ED) immediately.

"I knew that is where I needed to go but was anxious and afraid at that point," Brunet admitted in her nomination letter for Hite.

Knowing that every second counted, Hite helped convince her co-worker-turned-patient to go to the ED, telling her that she would stay by her side the entire time. Hite, who got her start as a Registered Nurse at CVPH in 2002 and has been at the Cancer Center for 6 years, stayed true to her word.

"Rachael stayed right by me while they did the EKG, which led to me being put in a room, an IV started, blood being drawn and being prepared to go to the Catheterization Lab for a stent to be placed when the EKG showed I had a heart attack," Brunet recalled.

"Her calmness and knowing that she was there made the biggest difference and lessened my anxiety and fears of so many things happening all at once," Brunet wrote.

MOST PURE INTENTIONS

Hite remained in the ED with Brunet until the veteran nurse was sent to the Cath Lab for her procedure. She then came back to visit Brunet while she recovered from the stent placement.

"Rachael is a caregiver who does everything with the most pure intentions to give the best quality care to her patients," Charleen Tuthill, CVPH director of oncology service at the FCC, said.

"As a colleague and co-worker, she is a true friend, someone who will give you unending support, thoughtful words of wisdom and heartfelt compassion."

Hite is credited with starting the hospital's inpatient Palliative Care program. and she continues to provide the community with dignity and respect for end of life care through her work as a provider with Hospice of the North Country.

"She is respected and valued by our team. She is a grounding force on some of the hardest days. When I look at Rachael Hite and her essence within the Cancer Center, I see light and so much love, and I feel so blessed to be here with her," Tuthill added.

CAN'T FIND THE WORDS

While Brunet knows any of her co-workers are ready at a moment's notice to help out patients, their visiting loved ones and colleagues, she said the care Hite provided for her is something that she will never forget.

"Rachael is so very compassionate, her calming voice and her knowledge made a very bad situation so much easier. I will never find the words to express to Rachael how thankful I am for everything she did that morning," Brunet said.

During the award presentation, Hite was presented with a certificate commending her as an extraordinary nurse. She, like all honorees, also received a DAISY Award pin and a beautiful and meaningful sculpture called "A Healer's Touch," which is hand-carved by artists of the Shona Tribe in Zimbabwe.

CVPH launched the DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses in 2018 as a way to recognize and reward licensed nurses for making a meaningful difference in the lives of their patients. Nomination forms and boxes are located at each of the hospital's main entrances and online at UVMHealth.org/CVPHDaisy. Nurses may be nominated by patients, families, and colleagues. A committee reviews nominations and awards a deserving nurse each quarter.

The award is part of the DAISY Foundation's mission to recognize the extraordinary, compassionate nursing care they provide patients and families every day. The DAISY Foundation is a national not-for-profit organization, established in memory of J. Patrick Barnes, by members of his family. Patrick died at the age of 33 in late 1999 from complications of idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP), a little known but not uncommon auto-immune disease (DAISY is an acronym for Diseases Attacking the Immune System). The care Patrick and his family received from nurses while he was ill inspired this unique means of thanking nurses for making a profound difference in the lives of their patients and patient families. More information is available at DAISYfoundation.org.