Hunterdon Health Nurse Receives The DAISY Award® For Extraordinary Nurses
On March 20th, Sheri Carter, RN, CHPN received the Daisy Award for Hunterdon Health. The award is part of the DAISY Foundation’s program to recognize the clinical skill and the compassion nurses provide to patients and families every day. Sheri received the award while caring for a patient with Hunterdon Hospice.
The daughter of a patient of Sheri’s wrote, “Sheri Carter stepped into our lives when things were at their absolute worst. We had lost our Dad unexpectedly in January and before we knew it, our Mom, who had been battling head/neck cancer since 2018, took a turn for the worse at the end of January 2022. Sheri kept us informed every step of the way and always went above and beyond what would have been expected of her. She would call and text me well past her working hours just to make sure I was updated on any changes or concerns that were going on. Sheri Carter is hands down, a real-life angel. My words will not be able to adequately illustrate all the amazing ways she helped me, my younger sister and our Mother during the worst time in all of our lives.”
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 patients’ families.
Bonnie Barnes, FAAN, President and Co-Founder of The DAISY Foundation said, “When Patrick was critically ill, our family experienced first-hand the remarkable skill and care nurses provide patients every day and night. Yet these unsung heroes are seldom recognized for the super-human work they do. The kind of work the nurses throughout Hunterdon Healthcare are called on to do every day epitomizes the purpose of The DAISY Award.”
The DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses has been adopted by 3,500 health care facilities and schools of nursing in all 50 states and 21 other countries, committed to honoring their nurses for their extraordinary care and compassion. Individual nurses may be nominated by patients, families, and colleagues and they are chosen by a Hunterdon Healthcare committee.
“We are proud to be among the healthcare organizations participating in the DAISY Award program. Nurses are heroes every day. It’s important that our nurses know their work is highly valued, and The DAISY Foundation provides a way for us to do that,” explained Chief Nursing Officer and Vice President of Patient Care Services, Mary Jo Loughlin, DNP, RN, NEA-BC.
DAISY Award recipients are presented with a certificate, a DAISY Award pin, a beautiful hand-carved serpentine stone sculpture from Zimbabwe, and a spotlight page on The DAISY Foundation website, featuring a photo and telling the story of why this nurse was honored.
At each award presentation, all the nurses and staff in the recipient’s unit are treated to cinnamon rolls. The reason? Once, Patrick ate his father’s cinnamon roll when he was in the hospital without an appetite for food. He then requested one for the next day – and enough for all the nurses in the unit.
To nominate a nurse that works for Hunterdon Health or to learn more click here.