Cynthia Titus, RN, was honored with the DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses at Sarah Bush Lincoln on August 30.
Titus was nominated by a coworker for always going above and beyond to provide exceptional care to her patients. Her nominator wrote:
“Cynthia has clearly established herself as an invaluable member of the Sarah Bush Lincoln team. While I could mention multiple occasions of her going above and beyond, these two examples really stick out:
Cynthia voluntarily stayed late and missed her grandchild’s t-ball game to assist a patient with discharge plans. She worked long and hard to ensure that the patient had access to her discharge medications (including obtaining approval for her anticoagulation) and that all home health arrangements were confirmed.
On another occasion, Cynthia didn’t hesitate to help an uninsured patient obtain much needed medication. She contacted the drug manufacturer and was able to successfully arrange for that patient to receive Linezolid (which is extremely expensive) at very little cost. Her efforts resulted in a vulnerable patient receiving necessary medical care that would have otherwise been impossible.
Cynthia brings professionalism, dedication to duty, and a never quit attitude to all of her interactions with patients. Going above and beyond is her normal and her efforts result in better outcomes for the patients of 2 East. I hold her in the highest regard and feel fortunate to have her as a member of the SBL team.”
Sarah Bush Lincoln has joined more than 2,700 healthcare facilities by becoming a DAISY Award hospital partner. During the award presentation, Titus 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, Jamie Easton, RN, at (217) 238 -6255 or jeaston@sblhs.org.