“It was a stressful time and meeting this caregiver was a BREATH of fresh air when we were holding ours. They came into our room to check my family member’s pressure and take a temperature. They were very pleasant, very proficient and proceeded with confidence and professionalism. How did this young person gain so much poise and ambition?” – From Kaia Carlson’s anonymous TULIP award nomination.
It was already a great start to her health care career when Kaia Carlson, 17, was hired as Junior Nurse Aide Certified in the Heart and Vascular Unit (HVU) while still a junior at Stevens High School. However, it quickly became downright auspicious when, just a month or so into the job, she was recognized by a patient with a nomination for Monument Health’s TULIP award.
TULIP is an acronym for Thoughtful, Upbeat, Loving, Individuals caring for Patients. The monthly award recognizes outstanding members of our nursing support teams. Kaia, who trained via Monument Health’s community CNA course, is the first Junior Nurse Aide to receive the award.
“The best part about TULIP is that all of it is anonymous. We don’t know who the caregiver is, or the patient,” says Sadie Colbeck, Supervisor Nursing Support, for HVU. “I never knew Kaia was nominated until I was told that she had won the award, and I’m a part of the nursing support council made up of nurses, nurse aides and CNAs, that votes on them.”
Kaia’s grandpa was a doctor, and her mom (Tara Carlson, PA-C) is a provider at Monument Health’s Rapid City Urgency Cares. “I grew up around medicine, and I’ve always really been interested in the body and how it works,” Kaia says. “After I started caring for people, that made me want to do it more, just because I like the hands-on patient work, and to care for people who are vulnerable and show them kindness and try to brighten their days. And this setting really has allowed me to do that, because there’s so many people that need that.”
A philosophy of care certainly made its way down the generations to Kaia. She has an informed, purposeful approach to interacting with patients, one that is wise beyond her years. So, it’s fitting that Kaia ended up in HVU because her method starts with heart.
“First thing I do when I go into a patient’s room is ask how their day went and then based off of that decide how to specifically care for them,” she says. “I try to be extra kind and just calm and ask them basic comfort questions and see if there’s any little details that I can do to just improve their day. Sometimes taking a little extra time to just give direct, specific care to that person can help a lot. I usually walk around with them on walks, and that’s a really good way to get to know them more personally, and it feels like they’re getting more personalized care, too.”
After she graduates from Stevens, Kaia plans on attending either Grand Canyon University in Arizona, or USD here in South Dakota. She’ll first pursue nursing and after that decide if she want to go on to pre-med or pre-PA from there, though she sheepishly admits that she hasn’t even thought about adding her TULIP award to her application yet.
“I have so much love for the TULIP award, because Monument Health is the only organization who has it,” Sadie says. “It’s great that Kaia’s the first junior nurse aid to win it, because the role is still so new and it comes from her peers. That’s a really cool aspect to the award in general — it’s the people you work with that are voting on who deserves the award.”
Each TULIP award winner receives a handmade, glass vase from a local craftsperson. “They’re all just a little bit different, a little bit unique, because all of our TULIP winners are just a little bit unique,” says Sadie.
Patients can be reminded to go to monument.health/TULIP to nominate a Nursing Support Caregiver.
Story by Kory Lanphear