Photo submitted to Times Observer Warren General Hospital Registered Nurse LouAnn Reynolds is the hospital’s seventh DAISY Award winner.

Registered nurse LouAnn Reynolds is the seventh DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurse winner at the hospital.

Reynolds delivered care through the hospital’s Home Health Department in April to a patient who had just undergone surgery.

“Usually when a stranger comes into your home, you feel a bit nervous on how people will react to you,” the patient said in the nomination. “With LouAnn, it was like she was family.”

In addition to making sure she was comfortable and keeping her from having to drive to the hospital for blood draws, she said Reynolds was patient with her three grandchildren, taking time to answer their questions.

“She was so down to earth, she made me feel at home in our own home and you don’t usually feel that with someone you first met,” she said. “LouAnn is such a wonderful and caring nurse. I just think she is wonderful and so does my family.”

The award is part of the DAISY Foundation’s program to recognize the super-human efforts nurses perform every day.

The seventh DAISY Award recipient at Warren General Hospital is LouAnn Reynolds, RN. LouAnn was nominated by a patient whom she cared for through Warren General Hospital’s Home Health Department back in April 2021. This was a patient who had recent surgery and needed help with dressing changes at home. The patient wrote, “LouAnn is such a wonderful and caring nurse. Usually when a stranger comes into your home, you feel a bit nervous on how people will react to you. With LouAnn, it was like she was family. No matter what, she was always on time. “ This patient went on to compliment LouAnn for always making sure she was comfortable and was not having pain. LouAnn drew the patient’s blood work to prevent her from having to drive over to the hospital and always made sure the patient made her doctor’s appointments. “She was so down to earth, she made me feel at home in our own home and you don’t usually feel that with someone you first met.” During LouAnn’s Home Health visits, she would spend time with the patient’s 3 young grandchildren listening to their questions, explaining what they wanted to know and never shooing them away. Congratulations LouAnn Reynolds, Warren General Hospital is honored to have an exceptional nurse like you, working 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 Puerperal (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.

Nurses may be nominated by patients, families, and colleagues. The award recipient is chosen by a committee at Warren General Hospital to receive The DAISY Award. Awards are presented throughout the year at celebrations attended by the Honoree’s colleagues, patients, and visitors. Each honoree receives a certificate commending her or him as an “Extraordinary Nurse.”

The certificate 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.”

Honorees also receive a DAISY Award pin and a beautiful and meaningful sculpture called A Healer’s Touch, hand-carved by artists of the Shona Tribe in Zimbabwe.

Bonnie Barnes, FAAN, president and co-founder of The DAISY Foundation, said, “When Patrick was critically ill, our family experienced first-hand the remarkable skill and care nurses provide patients every day and night. Yet these unsung heroes are seldom recognized for the super-human, extraordinary, compassionate work they do. The kind of work the nurses at Warren General Hospital are called on to do every day epitomizes the purpose of The DAISY Award.”

WGH Chief Nursing Officer Joe Akif said, “We are proud to be among the healthcare organizations participating in The DAISY Award program. Nurses are heroes every day. It’s important that our nurses know their work is highly-valued, and The DAISY Foundation provides a way for us to do that.”

In addition to the DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses, the Foundation expresses gratitude to the nursing profession internationally in over 3,900 healthcare facilities and schools of nursing with recognition of direct care Nurses, Nurse-led Teams, Nurse Leaders, Nursing Faculty, Nursing Students, through the J. Patrick Barnes Grants for Nursing Research and Evidence-Based Practice Projects and for nurses participating in medical missions. More information is available at http://DAISYfoundation.org