Observation care nurse Sheila Debault-Brown, RN, was honored with the DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses at Sarah Bush Lincoln on January 5.Debault-Brown was nominated after making a big impression on one of her patients for her encouragement, compassion and positive attitude.
The patient wrote: “I would like to thank all the nurses and staff in the Observation Unit that provided my care, but the nurse that impressed me the most was Sheila Debault-Brown. She was excellent and efficient in all her duties as a nurse and she went above and beyond the call of duty to take care of me. When she stepped into the room, I could not help but feel her positive energy, smile, and encouragement. Her personal bedside demeanor expressed compassion and care for the patient. She certainly is a credit to the nursing profession.”
Sarah Bush Lincoln has joined more than 2,400 healthcare facilities by becoming a DAISY Award hospital partner. During the award presentation, Debault-Brown 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.