GREEN BAY, Wis. — Kayla Wiesman has made quite the impression on her colleagues and patients so far during her short two-year career at Bellin Hospital in Green Bay.

Her fellow nurses describe the 27-year-old as humble. She says it’s difficult to give herself praise; says she’s never been much of a braggart.

“I try and go one step further than most would,” Wiesman said after pausing for a while coming up with a reason why she’s been so impactful so early in her career.

Her patients have had no problem singing her praises. They’ve nominated her for several Daisy Awards for her professionalism and caring demeanor.

Kaylan Baron is Wiesman‘s supervisor. She says Wiesman does big things for her patients, like planning weddings and large birthday celebrations.

“There’s also the small things,” Baron says, “like making sure their hair is washed and cleaned and pretty, talking to them on a human level instead of just on a medical level.”

“I treat everybody as my family,” Wiesman says. “I want what’s best for them.”

She has served as an inspiration at work and at her alma mater, Northeast Wisconsin Technical College. Students there have seen what Wiesman and other nurses have lived through during the pandemic. They say it has made them more committed to becoming nurses.

“It’s definitely inspired me to want to be a better nurse and to want to care for my patients, but not just as patients but as people,” says Josie Klarkowski, who is graduating this year.

“It makes me hopeful when I go into the nursing profession that I can also be one of those nurses that preservers on and helps take care of those patients even when it’s difficult,” says Britanny Beyer, who will be graduating alongside Klarkowski.

“I’m honored that people are looking up to me for something I do every day, for something that I didn’t know I was making an impact on others,” Wiesman says.