BANDON – Jennifer Isenhart, RN, a nurse in the Med-Surg Department at Southern Coos Hospital & Health Center in Bandon was recently honored with The DAISY Award For Extraordinary Nurses. The award is part of the DAISY Foundation’s programs to recognize the super-human efforts nurses perform every day.
“Jennifer is recognized for her professionalism, compassion, superior clinical skills and outstanding ability to provide an affirming and reassuring connection with a patient during an inpatient hospitalization,” said SCHHC Chief Nursing Officer Cori Valet.
“Jennifer clearly demonstrated the exceptional nursing skills that inspired the creation of the DAISY Award,” Valet said.
DAISY Award Honoree Jennifer Isenhart, RN, middle, with SCHHC CEO Ray Hino and CNO Cori Valet.
DAISY Award announced.
The nomination submitted by the patient read, “Right from the start, Jennifer treated me like I was her only patient. She made me feel like a friend and she cared and wanted me to get well. I was very dehydrated so needed extra help. Jennifer always smiled and joked with me to keep me positive. I never felt like I wasn’t important. I have no family here, just a very good friend. Jennifer kept me informed as to what was happening with me and always made me feel like I was her friend.”
The not-for-profit DAISY Foundation was established by family members in memory of J. Patrick Barnes. Patrick died at the age of 33 in late 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.
Said Bonnie Barnes, FAAN, Doctor of Humane Letters (h.c) and co-founder of The DAISY Foundation, “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 work they do. The kind of work the nurses at Southern Coos Hospital & Health Center are called on to do every day epitomizes the purpose of The DAISY Award.”
“On behalf of Southern Coos Hospital & Health Center and The DAISY Committee, I am proud to announce that nine of our amazing nurses were nominated for the DAISY award,” said Valet. “Our committee ultimately decided, in a blind ranking, to award Jennifer Isenhart as the hospital’s second-ever DAISY honoree.”
“On behalf of all of us at Southern Coos Hospital & Health Center and the DAISY Award Committee, I want to say a personal thank-you to all our SCHHC nurses and nurses everywhere for choosing nursing as a career and for the skill, care and compassion you give to your patients every day,” said Valet.
Isenhart has worked at SCHHC for nine years and has been a nurse for 15. She holds an associate degree in nursing from Southwestern Oregon Community College and recently earned her Progressive Care Certified Nurse (PCCN) credential from the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses. Isenhart grew up in Sixes (Bussman family) and worked as a secretary for 12 years before deciding she wanted to do something more meaningful to her. While earning her degree, she worked at Bay Area Hospital, then worked at North Bend Medical Center before coming to SCHHC. She lives in Myrtle Point with her daughter Neeli.
“It’s such an honor to be a DAISY nurse,” Isenhart said. “You try to have a rapport with every patient but you don’t always know if you’ve made that connection. It gives me encouragement to keep trying. I’m so grateful I get to do this every day.”
The DAISY Award was created to honor and recognize the outstanding efforts nurses make to provide extraordinary care to patients. The following nurses were nominated this quarter (names with asterisks have been nominated previously): Sara Coleman, Lisa Cooper, Tamie Farinacci*, Sarah Green, Jennifer Isenhart, Sara Lewis*, Susan Sefers*, Cindy Smith, and Katie Witt.
A few of this quarter’s DAISY Award nominees, from left: Jennifer Isenhart, Cindy Smith, RN, Sara Coleman RN, Sara Lewis, RN, and Lisa Cooper, RN.
“We are pleased to award Jennifer Isenhart as our second DAISY Award honoree,” said SCHHC CEO Ray Hino. “We are proud to be among the healthcare organizations participating in The DAISY Award program. Nurses go above and beyond 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.”
Nurses may be nominated by patients, families, and colleagues. SCHHC will present two DAISY Awards per year at celebrations attended by the honoree’s colleagues, patients and visitors.
Nominations can be made online at https://southerncoos.org/daisy or pick up a nomination form from one of the displays at Southern Coos Hospital or from the admitting desk in the hospital’s main lobby or the Multi-Specialty Clinic. You can also download a nomination form here: DAISY Award nomination form.
Each honoree receives a certificate commending them as an “Extraordinary Nurse.” Honorees also receive a DAISY Award pin and a beautiful sculpture called A Healer’s Touch, hand-carved by artists of the Shona Tribe in Zimbabwe.
In addition to the DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses, the Foundation expresses gratitude to the nursing profession internationally in over 5,300 healthcare facilities and schools of nursing with recognition of Nurse-led Teams, Nurse Leaders, Nurses Advancing Health Equity, Nursing Faculty, Nursing Students, Lifetime Achievement in Nursing and through the J. Patrick Barnes Grants for Nursing Research and Evidence-Based Practice Projects, Medical Mission Grants and their new Health Equity Grant programs.
More information about the DAISY Award is available at http://DAISYfoundation.org.
Jennifer Isenhart, middle, with her daughter Neeli and CNO Cori Valet.
