Beebe Healthcare Presents DAISY Award to Extraordinary Nurse Sarah Murphy

Sarah Murphy, RN, a nurse on Beebe Healthcare’s Post-Anesthesia Care Unit, has been honored with this quarter’s DAISY Award. The award is a part of the DAISY Foundation’s national program to recognize the super-human efforts nurses make every day. 

Sarah received the DAISY Award because of the care and support she provided the wife of a patient.

The patient, who was otherwise healthy, had developed an infection that led to severe swelling, requiring the emergency placement of a tracheotomy.

While his wife was waiting for him to come out of surgery, she saw Sarah walking out of the operating room area and called out to her. The two are classmates in Wilmington University’s Family Nurse Practitioner program.

“When she saw me and put two and two together, you could see her heart immediately breaking. I was alone at the hospital that night because my mother in law couldn’t be there as she was watching my 3-year-old son,” the patient’s wife wrote.

“Although she was not assigned to his case, she checked in on me and my husband as we awaited for transport, gave me lots of hugs, words of encouragement, went down to the cafeteria and bought me food and drinks since I hadn’t eaten all day, and even insisted on giving me toll money so that I did not have to stop on my way up to Christiana, where my husband was transferred.”

“I have no doubt that she provides this same, loving, thoughtful care to all of her patients. I truly do not believe I could have made it through that night without her support. I will never ever forget the love and support she gave me on one of the worst nights of my life, and I will be grateful for that forever.”

Sarah was presented with a DAISY Award certificate and a hand-carved Healer’s Touch sculpture during a recent surprise, socially distant ceremony. Each DAISY honoree receives the statue and the certificate, which commends the honoree for being an “Extraordinary Nurse.” It reads: “In deep appreciation of all you do, who you are, and the incredibly meaningful difference you make in the lives of so many people.”

The not-for-profit DAISY Foundation is based in Glen Ellen, California, and was established by family members in memory of J. Patrick Barnes. Patrick died at the age of 33 in 1999 from complications of Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (ITP), a little known but not uncommon auto-immune disease.

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.

Nurses may be nominated by patients, families, and colleagues, and they are chosen by a committee of nurses at Beebe Healthcare to receive The DAISY Award. Awards are given throughout the year at presentations given in front of the nurse’s colleagues, physicians, patients, and visitors.

“Beebe is proud to be among the healthcare organizations participating in the DAISY Award program,” said Lynne Voskamp, Vice President and Interim Chief Nursing Officer. “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.”

To nominate a Beebe nurse for the DAISY Award, please visit www.beebehealthcare.org/forms/daisy-award. For a complete listing of healthcare organizations currently running the program, visit www.daisyfoundation.org.