A Chatham Nursing Student Won an Award for Her Skill and Care
Kiara Marcus ’27 poses for a photo after winning the DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nursing Students. (Courtesy of Kiara Marcus)
When Kiara Marcus ’27 was working a rotation at UPMC Shadyside hospital last year, she noticed a male patient was unusually confused and disoriented, and he kept getting out of bed.
Because this patient was recovering from a craniotomy, even a small stumble or fall could be disastrous to his health, so Marcus continuously helped him back to his bed and made sure to let a colleague know that he needed extra help.
That seemingly small interaction led to Marcus in April winning a DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nursing Students. The DAISY (Diseases Attacking the Immune System) Foundation said Marcus was a role model for her “clinical skill and, most notably, her compassionate care.”
“Patient advocacy—that’s the most important part for me,” Marcus says. “Especially if patients are confused, you still want them to have some independence. You have to make sure you’re not forcing someone to do something.”
Marcus, who grew up in Sidney, OH, was encouraged by her mother to apply to Chatham University because of its small size. “She knew I didn’t want to go to a big school,” Marcus says.
When Marcus began looking into Pathways to Nursing, part of a partnership with the UPMC Shadyside School of Nursing (SSON), she felt like the program was setting her up for success by scheduling pre-requisite courses early in the curriculum. Faculty also made sure students knew each other, so Marcus was able to make early bonds with her classmates. She’s able to work as a nurse during her final year of school, too.
“[The faculty] are good at introducing you into it, going at a good pace, and making sure you know everything, you can ask questions, and talk through things,” Marcus said.
When Marcus started her rotation at Shadyside Hospital in the neuroscience unit, she was working with Molly Gibson, who was her clinical instructor at SSON. It was Gibson who saw Marcus helping the confused craniotomy patient, which led the teacher to nominate her student for the DAISY Award.
Marcus, second from left, poses with classmates for a photo at her Shadyside School of Nursing graduation. (Courtesy of Kiara Marcus)
“From the first time I saw her in a clinical setting, I could tell right away she was comfortable,” Gibson says. “She truly loved being on the unit. She loved taking care of patients. … If I had walked on that unit and didn’t know who she was, I would have thought she was an experienced nurse.”
“I’m really excited and proud that a Chatham student was not only recognized [at the DAISY Awards] but also won,” Gibson adds. The Shadyside School of Nursing has “such a great partnership with Chatham, and we have this joint venture in creating these strong nurses. I think Kiara exemplifies what we had hoped to get out of this partnership.”
One of the key inspirations for Marcus becoming a nurse was her grandfather. She says he had a negative experience receiving care in an assisted living facility shortly before he died. “I feel like that’s why that’s important to me,” she says. “I want the patient to have a voice, and if they can’t, to have someone who can advocate for them.”
As she completes her final year of study at Chatham, Marcus will also be working as a full-time nurse in the neurosurgery unit at UPMC Presbyterian in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh. She started that job in May.
“It’s a very precise job,” Marcus says. “It’s nice when you’re taking care of people and actively seeing them getting better.” She recalls a patient who entered the hospital with a brain bleed, which kept him from walking and speaking.
“Yesterday, he was up, walking and talking,” she says. “It shows we can actually fix this and help people live their lives still. That’s what I love.”
Learn more about Pathways to Nursing and other nursing programs at Chatham University at chatham.edu.