Extraordinary times call for extraordinary people. Amid the worst global health crisis of the century, the nurse frontliners who serve as the backbone of the world’s healthcare systems are up against extraordinary odds. In order to fulfill their oath-bound duty as caregivers, many nurses are giving this fight everything they’ve got.
Above and Beyond the Call of Duty
Delaware’s Daniel Pauley is one such nurse. As a nurse at the intensive care unit (ICU) at Beebe’s Healthcare, Pauley frequently goes above and beyond in order to help patients recover. One patient in particular was especially struck by Pauley’s highly personal take on intensive care, leading the patient’s husband to nominate him for the DAISY Award. Reserved for exceptional nurses, this prestigious award is dedicated to recognizing the services of our healthcare frontliners. Restricted by pandemic risk control measures, Pauley’s patient had no choice but to undergo treatment without the live, in-person support of loved ones and other visitors. So, in order to help the patient feel better, Pauley asked his husband for tips. And with help from another nurse, Pauley heeded the husband’s advice and played Phil Collins’ “A Groovy Kind of Love” for the patient while gently massaging his head.
The patient responded well and felt better throughout his stay at Beebe’s Healthcare. This is why the DAISY Foundation saw it fit to confer Pauley with the coveted nursing award, which apart from a DAISY Award certificate included a hand-carved “Healer’s Touch” sculpture. “Beebe is proud to be among the healthcare organizations participating in the DAISY Award program,” detailed Beebe Healthcare vice president and chief nursing officer, Lynne Voskamp. “Nurses are on the front lines of patient care every day. Now more than ever, it’s important that our nurses know their work is highly valued, and the DAISY Foundation provides a way for us to do that.”
The DAISY Awards
Pauley definitely isn’t the only nursing practitioner to be recognized for his extraordinary efforts and services. Recently, the DAISY Foundation also recognized another critical care unit nurse for her work at the Lompoc Valley Medical Center. Known by both her colleagues and patients for her exceptionally high standards of care, Lompoc resident Thao Carey was also recently given the prestigious DAISY Award. As frontliners, Carey, Pauley, and their colleagues in critical care represent a key segment in the fight against the global pandemic.
The Rising Demand for Critical Care Nurses
As COVID-19 challenged the world’s already stretched healthcare systems, essential health workers and providers have become even more highly in-demand than ever before. In fact, this has sparked a rise in nursing careers, particularly for specialists in critical care who look after patients with life-threatening conditions. Other than being needed for ICUs and COVID-19 isolation facilities, these specialists are also in short supply in cardiac care units, emergency departments, and recovery rooms across the United States. Furthermore, alongside critical care nurse practitioners, there have also been spikes in the demand for specialists in public health, nursing informatics, and geriatric care –a reflection of the huge nursing shortage that has been brought about by the pandemic. In short, the world’s most essential nurses are being stretched too thin. And the DAISY Awards provide a way for patients and colleagues to express their admiration for the most extraordinary frontliners.
As the planet’s healthcare systems continue to grapple with the uncertainty of the pandemic, we can only hope that even more nurses are inspired by this collective expression of gratitude. Although there’s still a shortage of healthcare workers, there’s definitely no shortage of extraordinary people working to safeguard the United States against COVID.
Article contributed by Julianne Rogers
