MMC nurses honored With DAISY Awards for going above and beyond

Two dedicated, caring and compassionate nurses at Memorial Medical Center were recognized this week with The DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses®. The award is part of the worldwide DAISY Foundation’s mission to recognize the extraordinary, compassionate care that nurses provide patients and families every day. The hard work of all nurses and caregivers at Memorial is appreciated and celebrated, but the care and compassion displayed by these two award recipients deserves special recognition.

The DAISY Award recipients at Memorial for the first quarter of 2022 are Observation RN Denise Abendano and Case Management RN Pharis Martin-Serna. In both their nominations, these Memorial nurses were lauded for going above and beyond to provide compassionate care.

“I was terrified after emergency surgery and (Denise) was my evening overnight nurse,” wrote a patient in her care. “We just lost our baby due to an ectopic pregnancy and my husband was unable to stay the night with me. She grabbed my hand, looked me in my eyes and let me know she was there for me. And she cared. That was a long emotional night and the service she provided should be commended.”

“Pharis is the epitome of a great nurse leader! Her passion and willingness to go over and beyond to ensure outpatient needs are met exemplifies everything a nurse should be and more,” the nomination reads. “There is a difference in doing work because you have to versus doing work because you love it. Pharis showed us just how big her heart was with the passion shown throughout this case. For this reason and more I would feel she is well deserving of the DAISY award.”

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 are proud that our participation in the DAISY Program is a powerful way we continue to honor the hard work of our nurses,” said Caryn Iverson, Chief Nursing Officer at Memorial Medical Center.

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.