HERMISTON, Ore.-Nurses and support staff at Good Shepherd Health Care System (GSHCS) were honored with some awards on the afternoon of August 5.
15 nurses were nominated for DAISY Awards, while 10 members of support staff were nominated for BEE Awards. The Great Catch Award was also presented.
GSHCS President and CEO Art Mathisen opened the ceremony by speaking of the importance of employee recognition.
“We probably can’t recognize those that go beyond the basics of their job in support of the mission enough,” said Mathisen. “There’s a feeling of being accepted for who you are when you’re recognized. It’s important to be recognized for being great at whatever we’re supposed to be great at everyday when we come to work.”
The DAISY Award
Nurses are nominated for DAISY Awards by their patients, with winners receiving a “Healer’s Touch” sculpture representing the bond between nurse and patient.
The family of a man who recently passed away nominated Intensive Care Nurse Stephanie Scott for “showing true compassion while caring for their father, and treating their dad like his life mattered,” sharing that they were “grateful for her hard work and love.”
“I’m very honored, I appreciate receiving the Daisy Award,” said Scott. “That patient and his family will always hold a very dear place in my heart.”
The BEE Award
BEE Awards (Being Exceptional Everyday) honor GSHCS team members and support staff.
Recipients of BEE Awards are also nominated by patients, with winners receiving a “Circle of Friends” sculpture.
The same family that nominated Scott also nominated Karen Lazarski, a Medical/Surgical Certified Nurse Assistant, for a Bee Award.
Lazarski was nominated for “bringing humor and light in a dark time, and for being a true gem who deserves to be recognized for the care she gives to patients.”
“It feels amazing,” Lazarski said, of receiving the BEE Award. “I definitely wasn’t expecting this, I’m a traveler and this isn’t my home port. This should be extended to the whole Medical/Surgical team that supports me like family – this is for all of us.”
Great Catch Award
Great Catch Awards honor health care professionals who proactively recognize potential errors, correcting them before they happen, benefiting the safety and well-being of patients.
Four individuals were nominated for Great Catch Awards, with Jaqqi Herrera recognized for “noticing when a patient’s condition changed, assessing the situation and acting.”
“I love working here, it’s been great,” said Herrera, who has worked as an Intensive Care Nurse at GSHCS for six years. “It feels good to be recognized for doing my job.”
The DAISY program at Good Shepherd
The DAISY (Disease Attacking the Immune System) Foundation was formed by the family of Patrick Barnes, who died of an auto-immune disease in 1999.
Barnes spent eight weeks in the hospital before his death, during which time the compassion and dedication of his nurses impressed his family, ultimately inspiring them to form the DAISY Foundation to recognize exceptional nurses in his honor.
Today, the DAISY Award is an international program active in 33 countries that recognizes nurses for the care they provide.
Good Shepherd is now a DAISY Award partner, with Nurse Manager Cherie Wilson, and Sevana Reardon, a Family Birth Center Nurse at GSHCS serving as DAISY Coordinators.
Nominees for DAISY and BEE Awards are submitted to a committee who grades the nominations based on the GSHCS values of Integrity, Compassion, Accountability, Respect, and Excellence (ICARE).
Nominees and attendees of the awards ceremony enjoyed cinnamon rolls, a tasty and symbolic treat dating back to the dawn of the DAISY Foundation.
As Reardon explained, when Barnes was in the hospital near the end of his life, he couldn’t eat much, but one day his family brought cinnamon rolls when they came to visit.
Barnes reportedly asked his father for a bite and ended up eating an entire cinnamon roll before asking his family if they could bring enough to share with the nurses caring for him the next time they came.
Today cinnamon rolls symbolize the compassion and care that nurses provide for patients and families.
More information about the DAISY and BEE Awards at Good Shepherd, including nomination forms, is available online.
