Georgetown County Chamber of Commerce issued the following announcement on February 14.
Florence Nightingale of 2021.
An asset to your organization and our community.
An excellent representative of what a nurse should be.
A rockstar.
That’s how patients and relatives of patients described four Tidelands Health nurses who earned DAISY awards for providing exceptional and compassionate care in 2021. The patients and relatives provided heartfelt nominations for the nurses, highlighting not only the clinicians’ medical skill but also their kindness and compassion to those in the hospital.
The winners, who were announced this week: Mandy Blake and Andrea Collins, both of Tidelands Georgetown Memorial Hospital, and Stephanie Ferrell and Monika Kuehl, both of Tidelands Waccamaw Community Hospital.
“Even as the COVID-19 pandemic lingers on and puts added pressure on our front-line nurses, they still continue to go above and beyond for their patients and provide an exceptional level of skilled and compassionate care,” said Ashley Capps, vice president of nursing and operations. “The kind, heartfelt words in the nominations really speak volumes about the level of skill, professionalism and kindness of these exceptional nurses.”
The national DAISY award and the DAISY Foundation were established by the family of the late Patrick Barnes, who died of a rare autoimmune disease at the age of 33, to honor his memory and recognize nurses around the country who deliver extraordinary care.
Blake, who works in the emergency department at Tidelands Georgetown, earned the award after a nomination from the parent of a patient with special needs, who was feeling anxious during an unexpected visit to the emergency department. Blake was the epitome of an exceptional nurse, providing skilled care while attending to the patient’s special needs.
“Mandy was able to comfort her and put her at ease,” the patient’s mother wrote. “She rendered excellent patient care with kindness and compassion. Mandy is an asset to your organization and our community. You are fortunate to have her as an employee.”
Collins, who works in the medical-surgical unit at Tidelands Georgetown, also made quite an impression on the patient’s relative who nominated her for the award. The daughter of an 85-year-old with Alzheimer’s disease praised Collins for not only providing excellent care but also for the kindness and attention to the entire family’s needs that she gave during a difficult time.
“She made Mom comfortable and never made her feel sub-human,” the patient’s daughter wrote. “Andrea treated Mom with LOVE as if Mom was a family member. We truly feel Andrea, after only two days, is a part of our family. Andrea is Florence Nightingale of 2021 and deserves all recognition and awards available to a person in her position. She had made a difficult hospital stay much easier to endure.”
A patient who has received care multiple times from Ferrell nominated her for the award, emphasizing her positive attitude and kindness while providing professional care.
“She is upbeat and always has a positive attitude and outlook,” the patient wrote. “She is extremely kind and understanding when providing direct patient care. Please give her the recognition she deserves as I know being in the health care profession at any level can be both emotionally and physically draining. She’s a rockstar!”
An 88-year-old patient who is hard of hearing and her family nominated Kuehl, who works in the emergency department at Tidelands Waccamaw. Kuehl immediately impressed the patient and family with her kindness and continued to impress them with her level of care and patience, the nominators wrote. She would kindly repeat herself until the patient heard her and provided detailed explanations to make sure the patient and relatives understood, they wrote.
“Her kindness in introducing herself to the patient and family quickly put the patient at ease,” they wrote in the nomination. “We never thought she rushed or was anxious to leave the room. Once she crossed the door threshold, her focus was the patient, her comfort and surroundings and respectfully including family involvement. We believe Monika is an excellent representative of what the ‘nurse’ role offers in patient care.”
DAISY awards are presented annually at Tidelands Health to exceptional nurses who are nominated by patients, patient relatives, visitors, co-workers and others.
Know a nurse you want to nominate? Complete the form here.
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About Tidelands Health
Tidelands Health is the region’s largest health care provider and MUSC Health affiliate, serving the Carolinas at four hospitals and more than 60 outpatient locations. More than 2,500 employee, physician and volunteer partners work side by side with our communities to transform the health of our region – promoting wellness, preventing illness, encouraging recovery and restoring health.
Contact:
Dawn Bryant, Senior Communications Strategist
dbryant@tidelandshealth.org, (843) 652-1636
Original source can be found here.
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