Becky Sharp, RN, was honored with the DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses at Sarah Bush Lincoln on June 12.
Sharp was nominated for providing immediate assistance to a gentleman who was injured in an accident while on her way home from Champaign. Her manager nominated her for the award after Sharp described the incident in the following email.
“While driving home, my husband and I happened upon two wrecks. We were stopped by the second wreck because a car was on fire in the median and the smoke was blocking the interstate. We could see people working to get the driver out, so I called 911 to make sure the EMT’s and Fire Department were on their way.
A couple of guys pulled the gentleman from his car, but no EMTs were in sight, so I ran over to him. An off duty EMT got to him first and stabilized his neck and then we moved him to a safe spot because his car was still on fire. We had to keep him on his side because of his condition. EMTs arrived and I helped with vital signs, IV starts, and pushed fluids, listening to lung sounds and trying to keep him calm.
We got him on the stretcher and waited about 8 to 10 minutes for the helicopter to arrive. We gave a report to the flight team and they took him to the hospital. I believe he had a broken right arm and a possible head injury because he couldn’t give me his name.”
Sarah Bush Lincoln has joined more than 2,700 healthcare facilities by becoming a DAISY Award hospital partner. During the award presentation, Sharp 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.