St. Mary's presents DAISY Award to nurse April King
July 14, 2020
Athens, Ga. – April King, a licensed practical nurse with St. Mary's Home Health Care Services, recently received St. Mary's system-wide DAISY Award for nursing excellence.
“April has been as working as one of our visiting home health care nurses for the last year and a half,” said Sandra Stephenson, Director of St. Mary’s Home Health Care/Hospice/Home Palliative Care Services. “She provides excellent care to our patients and is remembered for the genuine care and concerns she provides to patients and their families. She is a great person to receive the DAISY Award.”
April’s nomination focused on the compassionate care she delivered not only to a woman in the last weeks of her life but to the woman’s family.
“She supported me in ways unimaginable,” the nominator wrote. “She provided me with information, made phone calls to [the patient’s] physician, and gave words of wisdom as well as hugs when I needed them most. She is truly an angel.”
April lives in Colbert. When she is not working, she enjoys spending time with her family, especially going to the lake and fishing.
The DAISY Award is an international recognition program that honors and celebrates the skillful, compassionate care nurses provide every day. Inspired by the care delivered to a dying young man, the DAISY Foundation partners with some 4,000 hospitals and schools in all 50 states and 26 nations to honor extraordinary nurses.
At St. Mary's, each DAISY Award honoree is recognized at a public ceremony on their unit. Each honoree receives a certificate, a DAISY Award pin, and a hand-carved sculpture entitled "A Healer's Touch." In addition, they and their colleagues are invited to celebrate the occasion with cinnamon rolls, a favorite of the young man whose nurses inspired the creation of the DAISY Foundation.
Anyone can nominate a St. Mary's nurse for the DAISY Award, including patients, patients' family members, physicians, or colleagues. Any nurse in the St. Mary's system – including those at all three hospitals as well as home health care and medical group offices – is eligible. The nomination simply asks you to share your story of why a nurse is special to you. St. Mary's will honor eight nurses each year. Nomination forms can be obtained from St. Mary's Nursing Administration Office or by calling (706) 389-3238.
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St. Mary’s Home Health Care Services leaders celebrate the DAISY Award presentation to April King. Pictured, L-R are: HHC Clinical Services Manager Nicole Woods, HHC Rehab Services Manager Alan Sosebee, April King; HHC Palliative Care Manager Petti-Jeanne Sheldon, and Sandra Stephenson, HHC/Hospice Services Director.
HHC Nurse Manager Nicole Woods, DAISY Award honoree April King (with her “A Healer’s Touch” sculpture) and HHC/Hospice Services Director Sandra Stephenson at April’s award presentation.
St. Mary's Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer Titus Gambrell presents the DAISY Award to April King while HHC/Hospice Services Director Sandra Stephenson, left, and HHC Nurse Manager Nicole Woods look on.