Salisbury, MD —Wendy Sloan, RN, of TidalHealth Peninsula Regional’s 5 East patient care team, has been selected as the January 2025 recipient of the DAISY Award for her compassionate care and special attention provided recently to a patient.
In her nomination, a coworker wrote:
“On 5 East at TidalHealth Peninsula Regional, there’s a very helpful patient who has been with us for a while who is always looking to assist the team with tasks. Almost daily, she will come into the hall to see what she can do, but due to the nature of the work, we must thank her but tell her she can’t, which is a big disappointment to her.
Registered Nurse Wendy Sloan, who was working a string of days and was assigned this patient, took it upon herself recently to include this lady in our “daily duties” unrelated to the direct care of patients.
Wendy set up a workstation so our patient could make IV label packets for the nurses to use. The patient was so meticulous, even getting nervous when she was putting them in the storage bags. She stated, “I’m doing my best, I hope I am a good addition to the team.” Wendy even had the patient decorate the unit’s Christmas tree and secretary stations.
These chores that were assigned to the patient may have been insignificant in the grand scheme of patient care, but to her they were important tasks that she completed with pride. Wendy’s actions embody the values of the Daisy Award.
She went above and beyond her required duties for this patient by making her feel like part of the team and taking her mind off her troubles. Her actions tugged at my heartstrings and made me proud that Wendy is a part of our TidalHealth team!
Sloan was recently honored with the DAISY Award in a ceremony before her colleagues. She received certificates commending her for being an extraordinary nurse, and a sculpture called A Healer’s Touch, hand-carved by artists of the Shona Tribe in Zimbabwe.
The not-for-profit DAISY Foundation is based in Glen Ellen, Calif., and was established by family members in memory of J. Patrick Barnes. Barnes died at the age of 33 in late 1999 from complications of Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (ITP), a little-known but not uncommon autoimmune disease.
The care Barnes 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.
