Memorial Announces Karen Demourelle, MN, RN, CDCES December DAISY Winner
- Category: Awards/Recognition
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Congratulations to Karen Demourelle, MN, RN, CDCES from Diabetes Education at Lake Charles Memorial Hospital! She was nominated by a fellow co-worker for her kindness, strength and fortitude.
From the Nominator:
Karen is always focused on work, even before herself. While battling illness, Karen still was so concerned about getting back to work to take care of her patients. I have watched her continue to work, despite having complications and still maintain a positive and caring attitude with a smile on her face, even though she might not be feeling her best. Karen makes sure she is still making phone calls to educate patients in between her having to get units of blood, platelets, and plasma the very same day. She has even taken time to contact some of her patients while they were in the hospital to check on them and see how they were doing.
This illness has not slowed Karen down from providing excellent teaching and care to patients, their families, and staff members. Karen has found creative ways to adhere to her restrictions but still provide patients with everything they need. She has a dedication to being exceptional in all that she does and displays characteristics of a true real-life Superhero. Diabetes education is sometimes an overlooked or forgotten department, but Karen is a true diamond within it and I am so very fortunate to witness her true acts of kindness and selfless love for her patients and her job.
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.
