On October 5, Southern Regional Medical Center honored three extraordinary nursing teams as part of the DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses® program. The awards are based on the DAISY Foundation’s mission to recognize the extraordinary, compassionate care that nurses provide patients and families every day.
The hospital presented its first DAISY TEAM Awards to the Labor and Delivery (L&D) Team; Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) Team; and the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) Team for their dedication and commitment to a patient and family throughout a critical, challenging experience. The nomination read:
Responding to a critical patient in The Women’s Center for obstetric care, the teams from L&D, ICU, and NICU provided exceptional care to this patient and her family. Reports flooded the hospital of the care, compassion, and dedication that the nurses in all three units delivered to this patient and family – all of which exemplified what the Daisy Award recognizing extraordinary nurses and highlights the outstanding work that nurses do for their patients every day. The care provided by these team members encompassed physical care as well as emotional care and support for the family. The collaborative efforts of these three departments in delivering exceptional and compassionate care is the mantra of Southern Regional Medical Center.
The teams were celebrated in a morning presentation that was attended by Tena Barnes Carraher, Co-Founder, Vice President of Marketing and Communications, and J. Patrick Barnes’ wife for whom the award was developed. The DAISY Foundation is a not-for-profit organization, established in memory of J. Patrick Barnes, by members of his family. Patrick died at the age of 33 in late 1999 from complications of Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (ITP), a little known but not uncommon auto-immune disease. (DAISY is an acronym for Diseases Attacking the Immune System.) The care Patrick and his family received from nurses while he was ill inspired this unique means of thanking nurses for making a profound difference in the lives of their patients and patient families.
Nurses may be nominated by patients, families, and colleagues, and recipients are chosen by a committee at Southern Regional. Awards are presented quarterly with a celebration attended by the honoree’s colleagues and family, all social distancing appropriately. Each Honoree receives a certificate commending her or him as an “Extraordinary Nurse.” The certificate reads: “In deep appreciation of all you do, who you are, and the incredibly meaningful difference you make in the lives of so many people.” Honorees also receive a DAISY Award pin, and a beautiful and meaningful sculpture called A Healer’s Touch, hand-carved by artists of the Shona Tribe in Zimbabwe.
Bonnie Barnes, FAAN, President and Co-Founder of The DAISY Foundation stated, “When Patrick was critically ill, our family experienced first-hand the remarkable skill and care nurses provide patients every day and night. Yet these unsung heroes are seldom recognized for the super-human, extraordinary, compassionate work they do. The kind of work the nurses at Southern Regional Medical Center are called on to do every day epitomizes the purpose of The DAISY Award.”
In addition to the DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses, the Foundation expresses gratitude to the nursing profession internationally in over 3,900 healthcare facilities and schools of nursing with recognition of direct care Nurses, Nurse-led Teams, Nurse Leaders, Nursing Faculty, Nursing Students, through the J. Patrick Barnes Grants for Nursing Research and Evidence-Based Practice Projects and for nurses participating in medical missions. For more information go to: http://DAISYfoundation.org