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Infant Care Unit nurse receives DAISY Award Amy Williams, R.N., 8D Infant Care Unit, was honored Aug. 29 as the first recipient of The DAISY (Diseases Attacking the Immune System) Award for Extraordinary Nurses.   Williams received the award because she exhibits excellent nursing skills, compassion for her diverse patient population and consistently exceeds the expectations of her role. She has worked at MUSC for five years in the 8D Infant-Toddler Care unit of the Children’s Hospital.    “It’s a wonderful honor to be the first recipient,” Williams said. “Some might say the things that I’ve done are above and beyond, but I really believe that every patient and every family deserves that type of care.”   The monthly award is part of the DAISY Foundation’s program to recognize the super-human efforts nurses perform every day and is co-sponsored by Sandpiper Retirement Community, a continuum of care retirement community in Mount Pleasant.   “Amy fluidly combines her advanced knowledge, personal philosophies and caring persona to provide optimal patient care,” said Kimberly Y. Harris-Eaton, R.N., 8D Infant-Toddler Care unit. “She consistently influences every member of our health care team to explore all possibilities for our special patient population (infants and toddlers). Her work developing an admission video for our Hispanic families who visit the Children’s Hospital is just one more example of her excellence at the bedside. It is an honor to work with such a thinking and compassionate nurse.”   The not-for-profit DAISY Foundation was established by J. Mark Barnes and his family in memory of his son, J. Patrick Barnes, who died at the age of 33 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 inspired this unique means of thanking nurses for making a profound difference in the lives of their patients and patient families.   Williams received an African Shona Tribe sculpture entitled, “A Healer’s Touch,” a framed certificate, and a DAISY Award pin. The DAISY Foundation also delivered cinnamon rolls to all the nurses in her unit. Cinnamon rolls were a favorite of Patrick’s, and he frequently asked his father to bring them to the nurses as his way of saying thanks.    “We are proud to be among the hospitals participating in the DAISY Award program,” said Marilyn Schaffner, R.N., chief nursing officer. “Nurses are heroes everyday.  It’s important that our nurses know their work is highly valued, and The DAISY Foundation provides a way for us to do that.”   Jean Tilley, Sandpiper Retirement Village general manager, added, “We are proud to partner with The DAISY Foundation and MUSC in honoring nurses, who are the heart of health care. The DAISY Award is the perfect way to express our support and gratitude to those extraordinary individuals in the nursing profession.”   MUSC is among 50 medical facilities currently honoring nurses with The DAISY Award. This is one initiative of The DAISY Foundation whose overall goal is to help fight diseases of the immune system.      More information is available on its Web site at http://www.daisyfoundation.org. DAISY Nominees Jennifer Hunt, Diana Grant, Mary Johnson, *Andrea Meaburn, Patty Santos, Marlo Anderson, Patricia Baker, Keturah Frazier, Ellen Ruja, Val Warren, Sonia Larson, Jill Meetez, Fay Branks, Nancy Davidson, *Dottie Weiss, Valerie Warren, Julie Jones, Chuck Cannon, Kim Gottlieb, Julie Akers, Clancy Flounders, Susan Curran, Staci Sinex, Tamara Bowman, *Monique O’Brien, Toschua Bays, *Amy Williams, Pamela Srinivas, Kathy Morris, Amy Marfia, Anne Anthony, Holly Singletary, Sharon Groat, Sherry Kent, Wanda Brown, and Pamela Beamer. Note: * depicts more than one nomination and all nominees are registered nurses Friday, Sept. 2, 2005 Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107 or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to Catalyst Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to petersnd@musc.edu or catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Community Press at 849-1778.