Sarah Bush Lincoln employee Kristy Burson, office assistant in The Heart Center, received the fourth quarter Bravo! President's Award for extraordinary care of a dying woman.
Nominated by Prairie Heart Cardiologist Michael LaMonto, DO, he wrote in his nomination, “Kristy volunteered to sit at the bedside of a dying patient in the ICU. She was a 93-year-old woman whose family lives in Chicago. She had a pulmonary embolism, as well as pneumonia and has been declining for the last four days. She was made a "Do Not Resuscitate" and family withdrew care over the phone. Even after several requests, no family was coming to her bedside to be with her as she was dying. I was able to spend a short period of time with the patient, but my clinic was starting and, when I returned to the office, I expressed that I was upset at her dying alone.
Kristy volunteered to sit at her bedside as the patient died over the course of a couple of hours. When I looked in the room to check on how the patient was doing, I saw Kristy sitting with her, holding her hand and talking with her while the patient was slowly fading. It is always a terrible privilege to be present for another human being’s last moments, but I believe Kristy’s actions made this patient’s last moments much more tolerable. It is for this reason that I would like for her to be recognized as a candidate for the president’s award.”
The President's Award is the highest honor an employee can receive.