DAISY Awards Spotlight Nurses’ Commitment to Go Above and Beyond

By Mercy's Madelynn Innes

Mercy nurses do what it takes when our patients need help. To get an idea, just take a look at the stories these co-workers shared, and you’ll understand why these nurses are this month’s DAISY award winners.

For example, Karen Milam’s co-workers say their nomination shares just one example of how Karen demonstrates care and com- passion for patients – not when it’s convenient, but always.

While working in the ER one Sunday, her nominator explained that Karen received a phone call from a woman who’d recently been our patient in the ER. This patient didn’t express any concerns regarding her recent ER visit that would be appropriate for Karen to address. Rather, “she was very distraught because she was having frequent episodes of diarrhea, and she didn’t have any toilet paper in her home.”

Karen asked the woman about family or neighbors who might be able to assist her, but she said she had no one. Even though her shift had ended, Karen stayed on the phone another 30 minutes at the woman’s request.

As she often does, her nominator concluded, Karen went out of her way to help this patient. After leaving work, she went to her house to check on her and take her some toilet paper.

Like Karen, Kylee Stennett, nurse manager on 4B Cardiac, is relentless about solving problems. Describing a particular incident, Kylee’s nominator wrote: “We took care of a patient on our floor for several days who several times had threatened to leave. Each day, Kylee took time from her schedule and spent time with the patient, working on convincing her to stay in the hospital for treatment.” 

One of the patient’s main reasons for wanting to leave was to attend her son’s graduation from Missouri State that week. “Kylee spent much of her day facilitating a Skype setup so the patient didn’t have to miss her son’s special day,” her nominator explained. “This is just one example of how Kylee goes above and beyond for our patients.”

While co-workers admire Kylee’s persuasiveness to work with complex patients to get the best outcome, they also agree she’s great at motivating staff to perform at their highest level. “She allows co-workers to be involved in decision making and takes our huddles very seriously. This girl means business!”

The next time you see Karen and Kylee (shown below with Lisa Person), please take a moment to congratulate them on being selected as this month’s DAISY award recipients. To learn more about the DAISY program and  to see our nurses’ profiles, visit daisyfoundation.org.

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