Perioperative services would like to nominate Babette Cooper, PACU Manager, for the DAISY Lifetime Achievement Award. “Babs”, as we lovingly call her, has worked at this hospital for over 40 years, with the majority of that being in management. Her name is even on the memorial stone outside the hospital. She excels at keeping calm under pressure and focuses on excellent patient-centered care by regularly rounding on the patients during the day. She also serves as an exemplar by enhancing the patient's experience by responding to any RLs and finding a reasonable solution to rectify the situation. She does her best to ensure the staff feel welcomed and supported by implementing things such as prayers with huddles, Friday email announcements to keep all the staff informed of upcoming events/changes, and an anonymous suggestion/question box was placed in the Unit.

Babs is pro-teaching and embraces the future by welcoming nursing students to our department regularly. She actively engages in the professional development of her staff by encouraging them to become PACU certified as well as hospital preceptors for the department. She also advocates for our nursing practice by working on yearly performance improvement projects to ensure our department runs as smoothly as possible. She maintains excellent communication with our Director and will voice our unit concerns when needed. She even recognized the need for more nursing coverage during the night and was able to successfully implement and hire a full-time nightshift RN to help with overnight call. She also saw the need for more training and implemented PACU nurses to cross-train in the ICU so they can become more comfortable with ventilators and titrating drips. Lastly, in an effort to prevent PACU staff burnout from excessive call, she also assisted in getting Outpatient nurses to pick up second call and provided cross-training for them in the PACU as well. Babs' extensive nursing knowledge has been vital for emergencies that have come about in the PACU.

She exemplifies teamwork as she is quick to jump in and lend a hand, even if it’s just to check a blood sugar, help transport a patient upstairs, or refill oxygen tanks. We know we can count on her to track a doctor down to clarify orders or call an Anesthesiologist to the unit if needed. Babs is thoughtful with her staff and boosts morale with candy, welcoming new hires with decorated lockers, and ensuring we celebrate meaningful events like employee recognition. She also goes above and beyond by being the emotional support in difficult times, like unexpected deaths of family members in our unit, and always contributes a gift for the family.

Babs is very flexible with her department and utilizes her PRN staff regularly to ensure the full-time staff can get requested time off. I was especially pleased to hear that she allowed not one but two staff members to take time off to help with their church activities internationally. No doubt this was an amazing example of “being an owner” and supporting our community. She also graciously allows her staff time to join hospital-wide meetings when possible as well as being a part of a hospital-wide committee herself. She always volunteers to help with any hospital-wide event, like volunteering in the cafeteria and feeding staff during nurses’ week. She also serves as interim manager in the OR when needed and provides lunch relief for the circulators. I also appreciated learning that when required, she went back to school to get her BSN despite being out of school for many years.

Babs’ commitment to nursing has not just been within her own career, but also with her family as a role model. Her daughter was also so impacted by her love of nursing that she herself became a nurse. Babs even found a way to use her nursing skills within her personal life when her mother was diagnosed with dementia and she, along with her family, provided 24/7 care in her mother’s home. She never let this affect her work schedule or her demeanor. She continued to be the co-worker we knew and loved. Babs is not just a manager; she’s our friend, and there is no one more deserving of this recognition for all their faithful years of service.