Jessica Aliff, who works on the ChristianaCare Medical Intensive Care Unit, was nominated for the Daisy Award for her dedication and caring attitude she provided to a patient — and his family — before his death.

“Jess was probably the best nurse we could have ever asked for to take care of our loved one on his last day on earth.

“She went out of her way to shave his face, wash his hair and make him look as good as he could for us. She was very straightforward with the plan of care and made us feel comfortable on one of the worst days of our lives,” wrote the patient’s niece, who nominated Aliff for the award .

“There were a lot of us in the room that day (most of us nurses ourselves) and she went the extra mile to answer each of our individual questions, bring us waters and was there in the last moments of his life as my grandmother said goodbye to her son,” she said.

“I will never forget the impact she made on making a terrible experience better any way she could.”

Aliff first joined ChristianaCare in 2017 as a patient care technician. She earned her associate’s degree in Nursing from Delaware Technical Community College in 2018 and her bachelor’s degree in Nursing from Wilmington University in 2020. She has been working on the MICU since October 2020.

The nominator ended with this sentiment: “As an ICU nurse myself, I was beyond impressed and relieved knowing she was our nurse. She deserves this award more than anyone.”

This story was reprinted from ChristianaCares News, with permission. Find more news about ChristianaCare at news.christianacare.org.