Memorial Announces Danynn Dugas as August Daisy Winner

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​Congratulations to Danynn Dugas, BSN, RN a team member in the Emergency Department at Lake Charles Memorial Hospital! She was nominated by a coworker for her dedication to her job and the caring, attentive and professional care she provided to her patient during a medical emergency.

From the Nominator:

On July 17th I was admitted to the Memorial ER where Danynn Dugas was the nurse assisting me. From the moment I arrived to the moment I left, she was polite and attentive. After getting me in the ER bed, the pain had me sweating profusely and she was constantly wiping it off. She even got cold towels to put on me while doing everything she needed to do to get me hooked up to the machines and put my information into the system. I had forgotten my phone at home and had no way to contact anyone. She helped me find my sister's phone number so that I could inform my family of my whereabouts. I would have been alone during this scary and painful situation if it wasn't for her. She also helped me check on my truck. I had driven myself to the hospital and left it parked at the visitors' entrance. A guy moved my truck, but I wanted to check to make sure the doors were locked. She didn't hesitate, asked what kind of truck it was and the color, and ran out the door. I was in the ER for hours waiting to find a hand specialist. Two severe patients came in during my stay and she was nonstop running around doing everything that was being asked of her, plus constantly checking on my pain levels asking if I was comfortable and if I needed anything. She treated all the patients I witnessed that night with the same care, attentiveness, and urgency that I received. I was given a respectable amount of care and attention from all the ER staff, but Danynn Dugas went above and beyond. She is, without doubt, the best nurse I've ever had.

About DAISY:

In late 1999, at the age of 33, Patrick Barnes awoke with some blood blisters in his mouth. Having survived Hodgkins Disease twice, he was admitted to the hospital and diagnosed with the auto-immune disease, ITP (Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura).

Said his father, Mark Barnes, "We are so blessed that we were able to spend the eight weeks of his hospitalization with him and his family. During those weeks, we experienced the best of Nursing. We were there to see the clinical skill that dealt with his very complex medical situation, the fast thinking of nurses who saved his life more than once, and that nursing excellence that took years to hone to the best of the profession. But frankly, as a patient family, we rather expected that Pat would have great clinical care. That was why he was in the hospital. What we did not expect was the way his nurses delivered that care - the kindness and compassion they gave Pat and all of us in his family every day. We were awed by the way the nurses touched him and spoke with him, even when he was on a ventilator and totally sedated. The way they informed and educated us eased our minds. They truly helped us through the darkest hours of our lives, with soft voices of hope and strong loving hugs that to this day, we still feel."

Just days after he died, the family began talking about what they would do to help fill the giant hole in their hearts that Pat’s passing had left. His wife came up with the acronym, DAISY, standing for diseases attacking the immune system. As they discussed what to do in Patrick’s memory, first and foremost, they wanted to say Thank You for the gifts nurses give their patients and families every day. That is when the family created The DAISY Award For Extraordinary Nurses.

For more information regarding Danynn's nomination, click here.