Phipps named LewisGale Hospital Pulaski’s DAISY Award recipient

LewisGale Hospital Pulaski (LGHP) Emergency Department Registered Nurse Kellie Phipps is the recipient of the second quarter 2020 DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses. The award is part of the DAISY Foundation’s mission to recognize the extraordinary, compassionate nursing care they provide patients and families every day.

Kellie was nominated for the care she showed to a young visitor. When a single father was recently hospitalized, his young son was not permitted to visit due to the COVID restrictions. Kellie noticed the boy sitting in the waiting room and realized that the patient’s child had probably not eaten since it was well past lunch time. Kellie contacted the dietary staff and had them prepare a meal for him. She even went a step further and made sure someone was available to care for him while his father was receiving medical attention. Due to her perceptiveness, she went above and beyond for the child as she stepped in to provide “care like family.”

Nurses, like Kellie and so many others, are heroes every day. Our leadership at the hospital strives to make sure our nurses, along with many other staff, know their work is highly valued and our recognition programs enable us to do that,” said Christine Ludwig, LewisGale Hospital Pulaski chief nursing officer.

DAISY is an acronym for Diseases Attacking the Immune System. The award was established by the family of a patient who succumbed to an autoimmune disease in 1999. The care the patient 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’s families.

Nurses are nominated for the award by patients, families, and colleagues. Honorees are selected quarterly based on the nominations that have been received. Each chosen recipient, selected by a committee, receives a certificate, a special pin and mug and a uniquely designed sculpture called A Healer’s Touch, hand-carved by artists of the Shona Tribe in Zimbabwe.