Memorial Announces Madison Dyer as January Daisy Winner

Congratulations to Madison F. Dyer, BSN, RN in Surgical ICU at Lake Charles Memorial Hospital. She was nominated by the daughter of a patient for her comforting care, expertise, and kindness. 

From the Nominator:

My dad's heart stopped at work. They worked on him for 45 min to get him back to life. He had tubes in and when we walked in, it was probably pretty obvious the terror on our faces from seeing our family rock, laying there with tubes coming out his mouth, arms, and stomach. Fear gripped me and then Madison said hi. This girl was amazing. From the moment we met her, she was like our family. She took care of us as much as she did our dad. She saw how we treated him and did the same, even as far as saying LANCE! SIT DOWN! when he tried to get up for the 500th time. We spent two days with her in the ICU and she was very good at explaining, but we didn’t need her explanation because her actions were so clear. She jumped up and down when she walked in and he recognized her. She told him she was so proud of him. Madison will forever have our hearts!!!!

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 Madison's nomination, click here.