Advance Practice Nurse Diana Oakley, APN, FNP-BC, was honored with the DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses at the Sarah Bush Lincoln Casey Clinic on Tuesday, August 23.
Oakley said she was surprised, but delighted to receive the award during a special presentation by SBL nursing leaders and colleagues. “It was even better when I learned the nomination came from one of my patients,” she said. “I could not accomplish what I do without the help and dedication from all of the staff in the Casey Clinic.”
Oakley was nominated by a patient who complimented her for providing exceptional care and giving back to the community. Her nominator wrote: “This nurse has always shown trusted compassionate care. She always greets you with a warm smile and shows an interest in the patient and the entire family. She treats the symptoms, but also treats her patients with respect and forges relationships that can’t be beat. If there’s something that she can’t treat, she uses her resources to the fullest to see that the patient has the care they deserve.”
Oakley’s nominator also complimented her for supporting the Casey school system by donating her time to provide sports physicals to area athletes. The money raised is donated back to the Casey-Westfield athletic department to support its sports programs.
Sarah Bush Lincoln recently joined more than 1,900 healthcare facilities by becoming a DAISY Award hospital partner. During the award presentation, Oakley received a certificate, a DAISY Award pin and a unique, hand-carved serpentine stone sculpture from Zimbabwe, entitled, “A Healer’s Touch.”
The DAISY Award was established in memory of J. Patrick Barnes, who died at 33 of 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 families.
Patients, visitors, nurses, physicians and other employees may nominate a deserving nurse for The Daisy Award and a nurse will be selected by SBL’s DAISY committee every month to received this special honor. Nomination forms are located at www.sarahbush.org and at all SBL clinics and on patient floors. The forms can be submitted to any Sarah Bush Lincoln staff member, or sent via email to daisy@sblhs.org or mail to Sarah Bush Lincoln, DAISY Nursing Award, 1000 Health Center Drive, Mattoon, IL 61938. For more information, contact SBL DAISY coordinator, Cynthia Edwards, RN, at (217) 238 -3422 or cedwards@sblhs.org.