Three nurses that went out of their way to improve the life of a woman in need were honored with the inaugural DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses at Sarah Bush Lincoln on Thursday, July 14.
SBL Case Managers Carol Shook, RN, and Leigh Cheney, RN, and Emergency Department Care Coordinator Patty Croy, RN, were nominated for the award after collaborating to find housing for a homeless woman who repeatedly sought care in the Emergency Department and devised a plan to keep her united with her beloved cat.
The nursing team sought high and low to find the woman a place to live that would allow her to keep her cat and they wouldn’t give up until they were successful. “Carol volunteered to take the cat to the woman every other week and sit with her so she could still spend time with her cat,” SBL Case Management Director Michelle Buenker said, who nominated the nurses for the award. “The nursing home administrators can’t believe the difference in this woman since she’s been there. She has joy back in her life. She has a home and people that care for her.”
Buenker added, “We’ve never had to arrange transportation for a cat before, but all three of these nurses go above and beyond to make a difference in the lives of our patients every day. We are fortunate to have them as part of our team.”
Nursing leaders and colleagues presented Shook, Cheney and Croy with the award during a special celebration to launch the nationwide program that rewards and celebrates the extraordinary clinical skill and compassionate care delivered by nurses every day.
“It’s important that our nurses know their work is highly valued, and The DAISY Foundation provides a way for us to do that,” SBL Vice President Patient Care Continuum & Chief Nursing Officer Lisa Woodward said.
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.
Each DAISY honoree received a certificate, a DAISY Award pin, and a stone sculpture titled “A Healer’s Touch,” hand-carved by artists of the Shona Tribe in Africa. A unique addition to the ceremony is the serving of Cinnabon® cinnamon rolls. This results from a day while Patrick was in the hospital, and he asked his family to bring him and all the nurses in his unit Cinnabon® cinnamon rolls. With the help of Cinnabon’s parent company, FOCUS Brands, The DAISY Foundation carries on this tradition by serving cinnamon rolls to all the nurses in the award recipient’s unit in thanks for everything they do for 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.