Nurse coordinator receives DAISY award
by
Heather WoolwinePublic Relations
Sometimes it’s a simple thank-you note for a job well done or a reassuring pat on the back that keeps a unit bonded together.
Robin Matutina,
center, listens as Pam Smith, Nurse Alliance chair (not pictured)
presents her with a DAISY award sign to hang in her unit. In the quest to deliver quality patient care and with an ability to lift co-workers’ spirits, Robin Matutina, R.N., 7B Children’s Hospital nurse coordinator, is May’s DAISY (Diseases Attacking the Immune System) award winner.
Described as well-rounded and always ready to go beyond the call of duty, Matutina is one of three nurses on her unit trained to teach dialysis to children and their families. Matutina is also considered an excellent educator by her peers with patients from the oncology and endocrine areas.
Sonja Muckenfuss, R.N., 7B nurse manager, read from Matutina’s nomination: “Robin is the true essence of a professional and caring nurse on the unit. She truly cares about her patients and always goes the extra mile to ensure her families’ needs are met. ... She has volunteered her time to talk with kids in school about how great nursing is and how nurses really make a difference. As a charge nurse on the unit, she always strives to help the nurses give quality care and works with the nurse manager to help ensure the unit needs are met to help deliver that quality care. She calmly manages staffing, bed management issues, and patient care issues.”
In addition, the nomination also commended Matutina for creating a positive work environment through writing the staff thank-you notes, working with staff and encouraging them to write nice notes to one another, and helping to get creative ideas through to administration in an effort to improve flow on the unit.
Her nomination said that Matutina “is an exceptional role model and I am lucky to work with such an outstanding individual on the unit.”
The not-for-profit DAISY Foundation was established by J. Mark Barnes and his family in memory of his son, 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.
Matutina received an African Shona Tribe sculpture entitled, “A Healer’s Touch,” a framed certificate, fresh daisies, 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.
Matutina’s dedication to her unit, patients, and love of nursing will take on more meaning as she has recently decide to pursue an advanced degree in nursing.
The DAISY 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.
MUSC is among 75 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.
For more information or to nominate someone for the DAISY award, go to http://www.musc.edu/medcenter/formsToolbox/daisy-award.htm.
Friday, June 23, 2006
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