Crouse NICU Nurse Receives DAISY Award

Having a baby should be a joyous experience for a parent, but it can become stressful and scary if your baby is born early and has to spend time in the NICU.

That was the case for one mom, whose son was born at Crouse at 37 weeks and 6 days. He has a severe lung disease and had to spend three weeks in the Baker Regional NICU at Crouse.

During that time, one of the nurses who cared for him was Elizabeth (Betsy) Richer, RN, our DAISY Award recipient for March.

The nomination said, “I was exhausted, run-down and stressed out. Betsy greeted me at the first feeding in the morning with joy and compassion. She assured me that she would care for my son like he was her own.”

The nomination went on to say Betsy noticed that the new mom needed to care for herself. Betsy reminded her of the importance of self-care and sent her to have breakfast and get some rest.

The new mom wrote: “Betsy was with my son for 3 days in a row and during that time with her love, compassion and support he flourished and came leaps and bounds in his treatment. I truly believe Betsy Richer is an angel on earth. Without her being at my son’s bedside I am not sure we would have made it through this pivotal point in his stay and recovery.”

Thank you Betsy, for your compassionate care of the region’s tiniest and sickest infants…as well as their parents.

About the DAISY Award
In November 1999, the family of J. Patrick Barnes formed the DAISY Foundation as a way to express their profound gratitude to nurses for the work they do for patients and their families every day. DAISY is an acronym for Diseases Attacking the Immune System. Pat died at age 33 of complications of Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (ITP), a little known but not uncommon auto-immune disease. In 2015, Crouse became a DAISY-affiliated hospital and presents an award to a deserving nurse, selected by a committee, regularly throughout the year. The DAISY Award program at Crouse has been made possible through a donation from the Crouse Hospital Medical Staff.