News Center

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

St. Francis Health nurses lauded for extraordinary patient care


INDIANAPOLIS – Professionalism and compassion. Those components describe what pair of nurses have demonstrated in their work, thus earning them recognition at Franciscan St. Francis Health.

David Charles, R.N., and Joan Firth, R.N., are the latest recipients of the hospital’s DAISY Awards.

Charles was nominated by a family member of a patient hospitalized at St. Francis-Beech Grove’s intensive care unit. “He showed constant care, kind patience, good humor, cheerfulness, great knowledge and a willingness to explain anything we asked about,” the family patient’s daughter wrote.

Firth, who works in the hospital’s intensive care unit at Mooresville, was nominated by another family member residing a long distance way and unable to visit the patient. “Being 712 miles away from my mother weighs very heavy on me at this time. But after hearing the praise of my family, I feel much better knowing that Joan has such an attentive and compassionate way of working with her.”

The DAISY Award was established by the DAISY Foundation in memory of J. Patrick Barnes who died at 33 an auto-immune disease. His family was so impressed by the clinical skills, caring and compassion of the nurses who cared for him that they created this national award to say “thank you” to nurses everywhere. For more information, go to www.daisyfoundation.org.

To learn more about nursing careers and programs at St. Francis, go to www.stfrancishospitals.org/nursing.