UNITEDHEALTH GROUP INC. Joseph Smith, RN, at VA Puget Sound Health Care System received the DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses, presented by The DAISY Foundation and UnitedHealthcare, at a special ceremony today in Seattle.
Joseph Smith, RN, at VA Puget Sound Health Care System (center) received the DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses, presented by The DAISY Foundation and UnitedHealthcare, at a special ceremony today in Seattle. Left to right: Melissa Barnes, vice president, The DAISY Foundation; Barb Hostetler, RN, Director of Regional Clinical Services, Northwest Region, UnitedHealthcare Military & Veterans; Smith; Sean Longosky, Acting Deputy Director, VA Puget Sound Health Care System; Karen Allen, Associate Director of Nursing Services, VA Puget Sound Health Care System (Photo: Kim Doyel).
Smith, who resides in Suquamish, received a certificate commending him for being an “Extraordinary Nurse” to his veteran patients. 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.”
The DAISY Foundation’s unique recognition program is part of many hospitals’ recruitment and retention programs, helping to offset the acute shortage of nurses nationwide. Each month, nurses are selected by their nursing administration and peers to receive the DAISY Award, established by family members in memory of J. Patrick Barnes. Barnes died in 1999 at the age of 33 from complications of Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura.
An excerpt from Smith’s nomination form read: “Whenever Joe is caring for one of my patients, I have confidence that the patient will receive excellent, detail-oriented care. More importantly, I always know Joe will go beyond the expected care and will treat the patient with love and dignity. Just one example is a patient with terminal cancer metastatic to the spine. Joe went out of his way to make sure the patient had a wheelchair to take home on a Friday afternoon, so that he could leave the hospital to be with his family. Despite the high workload and patient-to-nurse ratio, I know that Joe is efficient and follows through with orders in a timely fashion. He is a great comfort to these patients and a huge asset to our community at the VA.”
Smith addressed his colleagues to say, “Life can be frustrating at times. The question is, as a nurse, are you a compassionate nurse – because that’s your profession – or are you a compassionate person because that’s who you are? And I would like to say that as nurses, we are compassionate people.”
Click here to subscribe to Mobile Alerts for UnitedHealth Group.
Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/multimedia/home/20141120006520/en/
