Registered nurse Mel Barker from Blount Memorial’s emergency department has been awarded the hospital’s eleventh DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses®. Blount Memorial partnered with The DAISY Foundation™ in 2020 to acknowledge extraordinary and compassionate care in the field of nursing.
Barker received her DAISY award on Monday, Sept. 9, adding her name to Blount Memorial’s banner of DAISY recipients. She also was presented a pin, a certificate commending her as an “Extraordinary Nurse” and a Healers Sculpture.
Barker was nominated by a patient for going out of her way to care for an emergency department patient who was later admitted into hospice care. “Mel came up to see my mom prior to her starting her 11PM shift in the ER,” the patient’s daughter wrote. “(Mel) held her hand and talked to her like she had known her all her life. Mel is an extraordinary nurse and person. Her care and compassion must be recognized as outstanding. My family will forever be touched by her and grateful she was my mom’s nurse.”
“Mel represents a great team of nurses who touch the lives of hundreds of patients and families each day,” said Blount Memorial chief nursing and operating officer Joe Newsome. “When our community needs caring, a kind word and compassion the most, Mel, and our entire emergency department is there. Mel is an exceptional nurse who always goes the extra mile for her patients and their families,” he added.
Blount Memorial’s association with The DAISY Foundation™ gives patients, family members, co-workers, visitors and colleagues the opportunity to nominate a nurse for the extraordinary, compassionate nursing care he or she provides. Award recipients are chosen by a committee at Blount Memorial to receive The DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses®. Awards are presented throughout the year.
DAISY Award nomination forms are available throughout the hospital and on the hospital's website here.
The DAISY Foundation is a not-for-profit organization, established in memory of J. Patrick Barnes, by members of his family. Patrick died at the age of 33 in late 1999 from complications of Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (ITP), a little known but not uncommon auto-immune disease. (DAISY is an acronym for Diseases Attacking the Immune System). The care Patrick and his family received from nurses while he was ill inspired this unique means of thanking nurses for making a profound difference in the lives of their patients and patient families.
