Erlanger Celebrates Monthly DAISY Awards For Extraordinary Nurses

  • Wednesday, October 27, 2021

Erlanger honored four nurses for the DAISY Awards for the months of August and September. Winners recognized as outstanding nurses, each receiving the DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses were Rachel Ragan and Delilah Harris-Scott for August, and Soosamma Mathai and Cristy Tuttle for September.

The DAISY Award is a national award to celebrate nurses who define patient and family-centered care. The award is a DAISY Foundation program with the purpose of recognizing the super-human efforts nurses perform every day. Nurses can be nominated by anyone in the healthcare organization, including patients and family members.

An August DAISY award recipient, Ms. Ragan was nominated by a patient’s family member. Ragan was commended for the extra care and compassion she showed the family when it became clear the patient would not survive and the family would not all be able to visit to say their farewells. She arranged for a private video call with the entire family to be able to say their farewells and be with him during his last moments. The nomination recognized Ms. Ragan for her creative thinking and compassionate heart allowing them that time with their loved one.

Ms. Harris-Scott was also recognized by a patient for the August DAISY award. Her nomination highlighted the extra care she demonstrated with ensuring that the patient and family understood everything that was happening, advocating for the patient, and keeping the patient calm. The nomination stated, “Because of her we felt safe and in great hands.”

Ms. Mathai was nominated by a former patient who described her as “a light in my world.” The nomination went on to describe her as help, supportive and exceptionally kind. The patient stated in her nomination, “I want to thank her for her kindness which can never be repaid and for her understanding and the difference it made.”

Ms. Tuttle was also nominated by a patient. This nominator described how Ms. Tuttle was able to recognize the patient’s heightened anxiety prior to a procedure and worked tirelessly to reduce it and comfort the patient. The patient went on to describe how Ms. Tuttle took the time to speak about other matters to help alleviate anxiety, aided in asking questions or receiving information from the doctor, and even held the patient’s hand and spoke of calming experiences until the patient was asleep. She was recognized for being a positive and calming influence on what was a high anxiety situation.

“We are exceptionally proud to have Rachel, Dee, Soosamma, and Cristy on our team,” said Rachel Harris, Erlanger chief nursing executive “Every day, our compassionate staff exemplify our mission through their determination to go the extra mile for our patients, and these four are wonderful examples of this drive. I am proud to call each of these extraordinary nurses my colleague.”

The DAISY Foundation was created in 1999 after Patrick Barnes passed away from Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura. His family wanted a way to honor him and show appreciation for the nurses’ compassion and kindness they extended to the whole family during his eight-week stay in the hospital. Mr. Barnes’ wife, Tena, created the DAISY acronym, which stands for “diseases attacking the immune system.” For more information about the DAISY Foundation or the DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses, please visit www.DAISYfoundation.org.

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