Memorial celebrates DAISY Award-winning nurses
May 12, 2021
Coinciding with the celebration of Nurses Week, two outstanding nurses at Memorial Medical Center were recently honored with The DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses®. The award is part of the DAISY Foundation’s mission to recognize the extraordinary, compassionate care that nurses provide patients and families every day.
The DAISY Award recipients at Memorial for the first quarter of 2021 are Nerizza Kempis, RN in the Observation Unit, and Chantal Villescas, an RN in the Critical Care Unit who earned recognition for her compassionate work in the Emergency Department. Both nurses were nominated by patients they cared for in our facility.
“During one of Nerizza’s visits to my room, we both discovered that we had something in common, and that is our love for Jesus,” said a patient in her care. “Early Sunday morning I was not having a good morning, so I went for my morning walk in the hall. Nerizza invited me to sit at the nurse’s station and we talked, laughed and shared our common faith in Christ. She has a big heart and a beautiful smile that compliment who she is as a nurse.”
“Chantal, I hope you realize how gifted and special you are. Words cannot describe how special you made me feel. I felt important. I was scared, in pain and very angry,” an ER patient described of Chantal’s care. “You were quick, precise, compassionate and gentle. You took command, calmed me and took me out of my misery.”
The DAISY Foundation is a nonprofit organization established in memory of J. Patrick Barnes by members of his family. 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. (DAISY is an acronym for Diseases Attacking the Immune System.) 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 families.
“We’re proud of all of our hardworking nurses and were extremely glad to celebrate Nurses Week with them, but the care and compassion displayed by Nerizza and Chantal deserves special recognition,” said Caryn Iverson, Chief Nursing Officer at Memorial Medical Center. “We are so proud at Memorial to be able to recognize these nurses through the powerful DAISY program.”
Nurses may be nominated by patients, families and physicians. The DAISY award recipient is then chosen by a committee at Memorial Medical Center. Awards are presented throughout the year at celebrations attended by the Honoree’s colleagues, patients and visitors. Each Honoree receives a certificate commending her or him as an “Extraordinary Nurse.” The certificate reads: “In deep appreciation of all you do, who you are, and the incredibly meaningful difference you make in the lives of so many people.” Honorees also receive a DAISY Award pin and a beautiful and meaningful sculpture called “A Healer’s Touch,” hand-carved by artists of the Shona Tribe in Zimbabwe.
Would you like to express gratitude to a Memorial Medical Center nurse that went above and beyond? Nurses may be nominated by patients, families and physicians. To nominate a nurse from Memorial for the DAISY Award online, please visit: DaisyNomination.org/mmclc.