Tift Regional nurse DAISY Team Award winner

TIFTON — Tift Regional Medical Center RN Garrett Tucker was recently honored with the DAISY Team Award for Extraordinary Nurses. The award is part of the DAISY Foundation’s program to recognize the dynamic efforts nurses perform every day.

Tucker works in the Intensive Care Unit at Tift Regional Medical Center and has worked for Southwell for more than four years. He was nominated for the award because of the exceptional care he gave a terminally ill patient, including making a home-cooked meal for the patient himself and picking up food especially for her in the cafeteria on another day.

“Garrett is a positive asset to the ICU,” ICU Manager Michael Thompson said. “He cares for his patients in such a compassionate way. He is a team player when it comes to this unit, and his co-workers think so much of him as an individual and as a nurse. I am so proud to have Garrett on our team.”

The not-for-profit DAISY Foundation is based in Glen Ellen, Clif., and was established by family members in memory of J. Patrick Barnes, who died at the age of 33 in late 1999 from complications of Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura, 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.

The DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses has been adopted by health care facilities around the world to celebrate nurses for their extraordinary care and compassion. The DAISY Team Award is for nurse-led teams of two or more who come together to solve a specific situation by going above and beyond. Nursing teams may be nominated by patients, families, and colleagues, and they are chosen by a committee of nurses at Tift Regional Medical Center to receive The DAISY Team Award.

The DAISY Team Award is presented once each year at a surprise presentation. Each member of the Nursing Team receives a certificate commending them for being an “Extraordinary Nurse.” The certificate reads: “In deep appreciation of all you do, who you are and the incredibly meaningful difference your teamwork makes in the lives of so many people.” The team also receives a specially engraved plaque engraved with the name of the team.

“We are proud to be among the health care organizations participating in the DAISY Award program,” Tonia Garrett, the chief nursing officer for Southwell, said in a news release. “Nurses like Garrett 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.”

The DAISY Award and DAISY Team Award are initiatives of the DAISY Foundation in service to the nursing profession. Additionally, DAISY offers J. Patrick Barnes Grants for Nursing Research and Evidence-Based Practice Projects, The DAISY Faculty Award to honor inspiring faculty members in schools and colleges of nursing, and The DAISY in Training Award for nursing students.

More information is available at http://DAISYfoundation.org.

Special Photo: Southview