DAISY Award Presented to NICU Nurses

Three NICU nurses are the latest recipients of the DAISY Award, having been nominated by the parents of a baby who was in their care for the first five weeks of her life.

The baby, born at 32 weeks gestation, weighed just 2 pounds, 9 ounces at birth and was immediately brought to the Baker Regional NICU. The family says the NICU nurses were advocates for their baby, and celebrated her tiniest milestones with the family and being encouraging the parents to call with questions or even just to check in.

In their nomination, the family explained that nurses Debbie Bay, Kevin Shon and Janet Gregory hold a special place in their hearts.

Debbie was the first nurse to take care of their daughter in the NICU, and was helpful to the family in orienting them as to how things would progress. The mother says Debbie let her hold her daughter for the first time, even while she was frail, on a heart monitor and under lights. She says, “[Debbie] knew just how important it was to have that bond. I will always cherish that moment.”

Kevin often took care of their daughter throughout her five-week stay. The mother said he was gentle with their daughter and knew how to calm her when she was restless. “He encouraged us that if we could make it through the stress of having a baby in the NICU, that things would only get better,” the mother said.

In their daughter’s last few days in the NICU, Janet was her nurse. The parents were grateful for her care, but also because she helped them learn skills they would need when they could finally leave the hospital with their daughter. Mom said, “Janet reassured us that we would be able to face the challenges of bringing her home.”

NICU Nurse Manager Erin Coleman (right) and Chief Nursing Officer Betty O’Connor presented Kevin, Debbie, and Janet with their DAISY Award.

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.