"Compassion. Cinnabons. Celebrating nurses." Those were the prevailing themes when Mark and Bonnie Barnes, co-founders of the DAISY Foundation, visited Marion General Hospital to personally present a DAISY Award to Teresa Feldmann, RN, CCRN, CVCU. DAISY is an acronym for Diseases Attacking the Immune System.
The DAISY Award recognizes nurses for the education, training, brain power and skill they put into their work, along with the compassion with which they deliver care to their patients. The program is in place in hundreds of hospitals throughout the United States and Canada, and now includes hospitals in Saudi Arabia. The Barneses created the foundation and award in memory of their son, J. Patrick Barnes, who died at the age of 33 from complications of Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (ITP).
When their son, Pat, died, the Barneses were determined to keep his spirit alive by doing something positive on his behalf. As they discussed the many ways they could do that, it became obvious they wanted to recognize nurses because of the exceptional and compassionate nursing care Pat received during his illness. And the DAISY Foundation was born.
As Bonnie Barnes told Marion General associates gathered for the award presentation in the hospital’s Skylight Cafe, “Compassion is the most important word of many that describe what happens in nursing. Nurses are the heart and soul of what care is all about.”
And so today, on behalf of and in memory of their son, the Barneses travel to hundreds of hospitals to personally present the award and thank nurses for the way they care and take care of patients and their families. “I am not sure that nurses understand the incredible impact they have on not just the patient, but on the patient’s family as well,” said Mark Barnes.
As a recipient of this award, Feldmann was nominated by six of her colleagues and a physician’s assistant. Each nomination focused on her extraordinary ability to care.
According to fellow nurse Deb Kantzer, “Teresa is the kind of nurse other nurses want to be after 30 years in nursing – still enjoying nursing, compassionate to people, and willing to accept the frequent changes in nursing.”
“She is the go-to nurse for both 1-North and CVCU,” stated Melinda Creek, another co-worker, in her nomination.
But Jim Kuhn, a physicians assistant, summed it all up when he said, “Teresa is an exemplary nurse with a kind and gentle heart.”
Feldmann joins past Marion General DAISY award recipients Charlene Latham, RN, ICU; Barb McClain, RN, ICU, and Sandy Lust, RN, Mental Health, in receiving an award certificate, a DAISY Award pin, and a hand-carved Shona sculpture entitled, “A Healer’s Touch.”
The award ceremony also helped kick off Marion General’s celebration of Nurses Week. In conjunction with that, Eric Wallis, vice president of patient care, read a proclamation from Marion Mayor Scott Schertzer for Nurses Week.
Adding to the DAISY Award celebration were pots of daisies for each nursing unit as well as Cinnabons, provided by the company of the same name, which is a sponsor of the DAISY Foundation. The DAISY Award program is possible at Marion General Hospital, thanks to the generosity of the Marion General Hospital Foundation.
For more information about the DAISY Foundation, please visit their website at www.daisyfoundation.org.
Photo: Celebrating the presentation of a DAISY Award are, from left, Bonnie Barnes, co-founder of the DAISY Foundation; Sandy Lust, mental health; Lisa Cudd, administration; Barb McClain, ICU; Eric Wallis, vice president of patient care/CNO; Charlene Latham, ICU; Teresa Feldmann, CVCU; and Mark Barnes, co-founder of the DAISY Foundation. Feldmann was presented the award at the ceremony that additionally celebrated past recipients, Latham, McClain and Lust.
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