Phoebe Announces Latest DAISY Award Winners
Albany, GA | June 2, 2022 – Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital recently announced its latest DAISY Award winners. Candice Chapel, RN, Brenda Eggers, RN, and Sarah Estrada, RN, were honored last month as DAISY Award recipients. Additionally, Angie Korona, RN, was awarded the DAISY Nurse Manager Award.
The DAISY Award is an international program that rewards and celebrates the extraordinary clinical skills and compassionate care given by nurses every day. Candice Chapel, RN, who works in Labor & Delivery at Phoebe’s main campus in Albany, was nominated for the award by a patient for her compassion and respect during a very difficult time.
According to the nomination letter, the patient’s water broke at 19 weeks. She was admitted to the hospital for IV antibiotics and rest. Everything seemed to be going well and then the patient realized she was losing her baby girl. “Candice was beyond amazing. She helped me not only physically but emotionally get through the events of the next several hours. She was there for me and my husband through the darkest moment of our lives,” wrote the patient.
Throughout the nomination letter, the patient stated that Candice went above and beyond caring for her and their baby girl. She showed respect and provided exceptional care. “No parent or family should ever lose their child and go through what we did but having Candice as our nurse was just what we needed to make it through the worst night of our lives.”
Brenda Eggers, RN, and Sarah Estrada, RN, were both awarded the DAISY award at Phoebe Sumter Medical Center. Brenda and Sarah were nominated by Lauren Turner because of their extraordinary kindness and compassion they showed her mother who had dementia. Lauren drove all the way from Bainbridge to be a part of the DAISY award ceremony held in early May.
Sarah is one of 44 International nurses currently working at Phoebe’s main campus in Albany and Phoebe Sumter. International nurses have played an important role in providing high quality care to patients as the health system continues to battle the nursing shortage. Over the last few years, four international nurses have been recognized with a DAISY award.
While each month Phoebe honors a nurse for his or her extraordinary efforts at the bedside with the DAISY Award, often nursing leaders who supervise these outstanding nurses do not consider their roles as eligible for the DAISY award. However, it is evident that the environment created by nurse leaders is a strong factor in how direct-care nurses take care of patients.
Angie Korona, RN, was recently recognized with the DAISY Nurse Manager award for her extraordinary work in leading the Monoclonal Antibody Infusion Clinic during the surges of the COVID-19 pandemic. Below are a few excerpts from her nominations:
- “It has been an honor to be part of the team working in the mAbs unit. I've learned a lot from her along this journey. She truly wanted to help every patient that we could. She worked tirelessly to ensure that we did. KUDOS to her for amazing leadership.”
- “The organization is fortunate to have such a dedicated leader, and I am grateful to have the opportunity to learn from her daily. Thank you, Angie!”
- “I believe a huge KUDOS should go to you, Angie!! You have been the backbone of this operation, holding us all together! I do not believe this entire process would have been as smooth as it has been without you.”
The not-for-profit DAISY Foundation is based in Glen Ellen, CA, and was established by family members in memory of J. Patrick Barnes. Patrick died at the age of 33 in late 1999 from complications of Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (ITP), a little known but not uncommon auto-immune disease. 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 patient families.
At a presentation given in front of the nurse’s colleagues, physicians, patients, and visitors, the honoree receives a certificate commending her or him for being an "Extraordinary Nurse." The honoree is also given a beautiful and meaningful sculpture called A Healer’s Touch, hand-carved by artists of the Shona Tribe in Africa.