Registered nurse Kate Preston has been recognized as a Central Maine Medical Center DAISY Award recipient.
The DAISY Award is sponsored by the DAISY Foundation and recognizes nurses who consistently demonstrate in their work the following attributes: compassion; critical thinking skills; passion about life; patient- and family-focused care; patient advocacy; support of all healthcare team members; and nursing profession role model.
Preston works in the Special Delivery Family Birthing Center located on the third floor of the Chalke (formerly Memorial) Wing. She was nominated for the award by the family of a patient in her care.
“Kate was so very attentive to the needs of not only my daughter but to her husband. What stands out the most is that they used laughter when my daughter and son-in-law needed it, yet when compassion was needed they flipped over and were quiet and attentive to my daughter’s needs,” remarked the nomination story. “[She] is very much a patient advocate, she listened closely to what my daughter said and her facial expressions for pain and discomfort. [Preston] has the ability to focus on many tasks at once and make the patient feel confident in her care.”
Preston was also helping orient a new nurse to the unit during the delivery, and maintained a high standard of patient care along with her teaching. The patient’s family noted, “Kate guided, taught, and mentored [the new nurse] all the while keeping the patient updated.”
The DAISY Award was established in 1999 by the family of J. Patrick Barnes, who died at 33 from complications of idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura. DAISY is an acronym for “diseases attacking the immune system”. The foundation is headquartered in Glen Ellen, Calif.
The DAISY Award was created to show gratitude to the nursing profession, because the Barnes family believed that nurses are truly “unsung heroes”. The DAISY Foundation says the program “honors the super human work nurses do at the bedside each and every day.” The foundation also funds research for the J. Patrick Barnes Grants for Nursing Research and Evidence-Based Practice Projects.
Patients, visitors, physicians, and co-workers can nominate nurses who they feel deserve to be recognized with the DAISY Award.