Kaylee Fagundes
November 2018 DAISY Award Winner
Kaylee Fagundes, RN
Labor and Delivery
Nomiated by
Katie (Patient)
“I am nominating Kaylee for the Daisy Award due to her kindness,
professionalism and continuity of care to me as a patient. I went into
labor with my first child. Throughout my pregnancy I had a desire to deliver
my child naturally with minimal medical intervention. I desired labor
and delivery (though I knew it would be the toughest thing I would ever
do) to be a time of bonding where I could rely on my husband and mother
for mental and physical support throughout the process. Before I went
into labor, I often day dreamt about that glorious moment where I would
finally push my unborn child out and have that first glance at my son
and do skin to skin time with him. In my daydream, this moment included
tears of joy and relief. Needless to say my labor and delivery was far
from what I expected and did not go as I desired. Despite the many changes
there was one constant support I didn’t expect and that was from
my day nurse, Kaylee. Kaylee began her shift at 6 a.m. At this point,
I had been in the hospital laboring overnight with moderate contractions.
From the onset of Kaylee’s shift I immediately felt encouraged and
comforted by her support to assist me in following my birth plan as much
as possible. She never complained about my desire to have minimal fetal
monitoring and constantly worked with me to monitor my baby’s heart
rate as I moved around through contractions. She even verbally encouraged
me by stating how well I was doing breathing through my contractions and
the way I was using my support people. Unfortunately, my labor did not
go as planned and I needed more medical intervention than I desired. After
15 hours of labor, I was informed by my doctor that I should consider
an epidural to assist in my cervix dilating and to assist the baby in
moving downward into position. Throughout this time Kaylee remained consistent
by encouraging my progress and answering my questions about the procedure.
After roughly 22 hours of labor, I was informed that my body still was
not making the progress it needed to dilate and move baby downward to
be born naturally and the baby would need to be delivered by C-section.
Upon hearing this news, I was immediately disappointed, scared and anxious
about the procedure. After the doctor left the room Kaylee sat next to
my bed and gently stated: “Let’s talk about this and lets
answer any questions you have.” It was 5:30 p.m. and despite her
shift nearly being over she spent the next 20 minutes listening to my
concerns, validating my tears and reassuring me that everything would
be all right. One of my major concerns was who would be the next nurse
in the upcoming shift change and who would be with me during the C-section.
Little did Kaylee know, this conversation was extremely therapeutic to
me and was what I needed to accept the upcoming procedure and process
the changes that were occurring in my birth plan. Her kindness did not
end here. Minutes after our conversation, she left the room and I assumed
she was preparing for the shift change. She arrived back to my room 20
minutes later; roughly 10 minutes after her shift should have ended. I
jokingly stated: “Sorry I must have given you a lot to do before
you have to leave. She replied: “Actually I’ve decided to
stay in order to be with you for your C-section… It just didn’t
feel right to leave.” I instantly burst into tears of relief. What
I hadn’t shared with Kaylee was that I had still been nervous about
who would be the night nurse. I was concerned that the next nurse may
not be as sympathetic, kind or as encouraging to my situation. Though
I was still nervous about the upcoming surgery I had a sense of peace
that I would have a familiar face through the whole ordeal.
Words can’t express how comforted I felt having her present with
me through the procedure. She was present as I was prepped for surgery,
wheeled to the surgery room, during the few moments my husband couldn’t
be in the room with me prior to surgery, during surgery, in the recovery
room and even present with me as they took me to my new room in the mother
baby unit. On her own accord she stayed with me from start to finish of
the C-section. I’m not completely sure exactly how many extra hours
she sacrificed that night to be with me (It was probably at least three
hours past her clock out time), but she will never know the comfort I
felt looking over and physically seeing her standing there during the
C-section. The C-section was an unknown to me but through it all Kaylee
was my one consistent thing representing the hospital that gave me peace
and comfort.
I am still grateful for the kindness and generosity she showed as she sacrificed
her personal time for me that night. Tears often come to my eyes as I
think of how blessed I was to have her as my nurse that day. She didn’t
have to stay past her shift but she did! Kaweah Health is definitely blessed
to have such a hardworking, genuine and compassionate nurse working for
them as Kaylee.”