Hunterdon Health Nurse Receives The DAISY Award® For Extraordinary Nurses
On November 30th, Barbara Eck, BSN, RN, 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.
A colleague wrote, “I have been working with Barbara for about three years in a unique arrangement. She is a nurse who supports two departments that work side by side in three different locations between Bridgewater and Flemington. I often go to Barbara with nursing questions regarding prescriptions, test results, prior authorizations, injection teaching, and patient reactions to new medications. There is one particular situation that stands out and the reason I feel she is worthy of a Daisy Award. One day I was meeting with a patient who was experiencing low blood sugar. While I was counseling her she felt very faint and started vomiting. Barbara dropped everything to help the patient. She checked her blood sugar, took her vital signs, held the basin for her, got her some water, and comforted the patient in a very professional and calming manner. Thankfully the patient responded quickly and did not need any additional care at that moment, but I was so grateful and it was comforting to witness such compassionate nursing care.”
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’s 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 Health 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 healthcare facilities and schools of nursing in all 50 states and 21 other countries. They are 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 Health 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, Hunterdon Health.
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 while 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 who works for Hunterdon Health or to learn more, visit https://www.hunterdonhealth.org/services/careers/nursing-careers/daisy-award.
Pictured above: On November 30th, Barbara Eck, BSN, RN, received the DAISY award for Hunterdon Health. Barbara is an Outpatient Nurse Supervisor at Diabetes and Endocrine Associates of Hunterdon and Center for Endocrine Health.