St. Mary’s Healthcare announces latest DAISY Award winner

Abbey Collins, RN of the St. Mary’s Ambulatory Care Unit, was recently honored with The DAISY Award for extraordinary nurses. The award is part of the DAISY Foundation’s programs to recognize the super-human efforts nurses perform every day.

“Abbey and The DAISY Award hold a special place here at St. Mary’s Healthcare,” said Patricia Sanders, St. Mary’s Healthcare chief nursing officer. “It is because of Abbey’s compassionate and caring efforts, and nurses like her, that St. Mary’s patients experience a level of care that exemplifies the impact nurses have in creating an environment where patients and families feel at home. We are proud that we can recognize these nurses through The DAISY Award program.”

Abbey’s nomination read: “Abbey was so helpful before surgery, checking all the medicines I was taking plus vitamins. She knew all about the scripts and vitamins, including when to discontinue them and prepare for surgery. I was very impressed with her knowledge of ALL the scripts and vitamins. … The day of my surgery (Abbey) was wonderful, with her personality and calmness preparing me for surgery. I would also like to say the other nurses working with her were also very pleasant and knowledgeable. It was a restful and pleasant preparation for me waiting for my place in surgery because of Abbey.”

The DAISY Foundation is a not-for-profit organization established in memory of J. Patrick Barnes by members of his family.  Barnes, 33, died in 1999 from 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 Barnes 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 patient families.

Have you recently had an extraordinary experience with a nurse at St. Mary’s Healthcare? Please submit a DAISY Award nomination at the following link: www.smha.org/daisy.