Katie Smith, RN, was honored with the DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses at Sarah Bush Lincoln on December 19.
Smith was nominated for making a big impression on a patient and her family after experiencing complications following surgery. In a nomination letter, the patient’s daughter wrote:
“Katie was very concerned when my mom’s blood pressure and hemoglobin started to drop. She stayed in the room with my mom and calmed her down through a panic attack. She distracted my mom by asking her questions to get her mind off of her current health condition. Katie notified the doctor of the changes in my mom’s condition, organized a rapid response team and kept the family informed the entire time. My mom was then taken to the Critical Care Unit (CCU) and had to return to surgery. Katie even stayed over at the end of her shift to make sure my mom made it to CCU and was comfortable. We appreciate everything so much that Katie did for my mom and our family.”
Sarah Bush Lincoln has joined more than 2,700 healthcare facilities by becoming a DAISY Award hospital partner. During the award presentation, Smith 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 [email protected] or mail to Sarah Bush Lincoln, DAISY Nursing Award, 1000 Health Center Drive, Mattoon, IL 61938. For more information, SBL DAISY interim coordinator, Tracey McCord, RN, at (217) 238-4987 or [email protected].