ECHN’s Quarterly DAISY Award Recipient: Barbara Johnson
Meet Barbara Johnson, our Quarterly DAISY Award Recipient!
Barbara is a Registered Nurse, and she works in Manchester Memorial Hospital’s 1East Nursing Unit. Barbara was nominated for the Daisy Award by a patient she cared for in March 2020. Learn more about Barbara through her patient’s eyes:
Barbara is exceptional in all she does. Her attention to my comfort whether it was straightening my blankets, stuffing my pillows, holding my hand when I was feeling sad, making sure I got my meds or simply bringing me ice show her extraordinary care and compassion.
She is well-respected by everyone she works with. Whenever I would mention her name to others, they always had nice things to say about her. I spoke frequently to my family about her, and they were grateful that I had her as my nurse, and happy that I was in such good hands.
She was always patient with me. She didn’t mind repeating things to make sure I understood what she was saying or when she was giving me instructions. Not everyone shows that much compassion. One time, her attention to detail saved me from choking. She observed that I would throw my pills in my mouth – something I do to give them a “head-start”. She worried that I might accidentally cause myself great harm if a pill were to get caught in such a way that I could stop breathing. I will now take my meds more carefully!
Barbara is my “angel” sent to watch over me. She gave me a packet to fill out for me to have at home so in case another emergency occurred, all of my information would be in one place and easy to have ready to bring with me. I will miss her and think of her kindness every day, four times a day to be exact because that is how many times I take my pills each day.
Thank you for giving me a way to express my experience with this amazing nurse!
Sincerely,
Grateful Patient
P.S. Every time she walked by my door, she would smile and wave!
Congratulations Barbara!
ABOUT the DAISY Award
D.A.I.S.Y is the acronym for Diseases Attacking the Immune System. The DAISY Foundation was formed in November 1999, by the family of J. Patrick Barnes who died at age 33 of complications of Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (ITP). The nursing care Patrick received when hospitalized profoundly touched his family. The family felt they and Patrick experienced the best of Nursing. Not only did they witness expert clinical skill for a very complex medical situation, but it was the kindness and compassion that the staff showed to Patrick and his family every day. The following is a quote from the DAISY Foundation website:
“We were awed by the way the nurses touched him and spoke with him, even when he was on a ventilator and totally sedated. The way they informed and educated us eased our minds. They truly helped us through the darkest hours of our lives, with soft voices of hope and strong loving hugs that to this day, we still feel”.
After Patrick’s death, the family created the DAISY Award For Extraordinary Nurses. Their goal was to “ensure that nurses know how deserving they are of our society’s profound respect for the education, training, brainpower, and skill they put into their work and especially for the caring with which they deliver their care”.
Nominations can be submitted by patients and families and those experiences submitted are reflective of an excellent patient and family experience. The foundation cites, “The nomination stories are rich in data that can describe what is important to patients, their families and others who encounter great, compassionate nursing care. By honoring extraordinary acts of compassion, recognition can positively influence the patient’s perception of their experience”.
The quarterly Eastern Connecticut Health Network (ECHN) DAISY award program is for Manchester Memorial Hospital, Rockville General Hospital, Visiting Nurse & Health Services of CT and Woodlake at Tolland staff registered nurses. We are fortunate to have nurses such as Barbara Johnson.
