Barbara Wilson BSN, RN was the inspiration for the Pay It Forward Committee established on the Heart Care Unit (HCU) at MedStar Good Samaritan Hospital. This started on Valentine's Day with the recognition of 3 patients on the unit who seemed to be alone and without visitors. Their day was brightened by the giving of small gifts and balloons purchased from the hospital gift shop. This demonstration of compassion and empathy toward HCU patients mushroomed into a much larger scale celebration for female patients on Mother's Day. Many members of the HCU staff met to coordinate this event to recognize all female patients on their unit with the philosophy that every woman is or has been a Mom to someone in their lifetime. This event was a 3-day celebration of love that started on Friday, May 6th with the hanging of a banner recognizing Mother's Day and the distribution of small gifts and goodie bags for all female patients. This involved donations from the staff who loved the idea of being involved in doing something special for their patients. On Saturday, May 7th female patients were given magazines and word-find books to keep them busy.
The planning, organizing and implementing of this plan did not compromise patient care in any way. Nursing staff still carried out their everyday duties. Most of this was done on staff's own time; they were excited to be involved and readily volunteered to do whatever was necessary to pull this off. The celebration took so much coordination; identifying the female patients, researching their ages and diet restrictions, shopping for small gift items, stuffing the bags with gifts that were both purchased and handmade, and finally the distribution of the gifts over the weekend. This brightened everyone's day. For many of our patients, this was a reminder that they still matter and people still care about them. The overwhelming reaction of the patients and visitors would bring a tear to anyone's eye.
When I heard about this amazing example of teamwork, I immediately thought of recognizing the HCU team comprised of selfless, compassionate people led by Barbara Wilson, and nominating them for the DAISY Team Award. The committee plans to continue their acts of kindness going forward.
Here are the members of the DAISY Award Team:
Barbara Wilson BSN, RN
Sade Sekiteri BSN, RN
Devette Ray BSN, RN
Omobayowa Demehin BSN, RN
Danny Aquino BSN, RN
Frusein Abamonga BSN, RN
Joan Minoza BSN, RN
Roxanne Baker BSN, RN
Judith Armus BSN, RN
Edgardo Green, MFT
Jessica Hamilton, MFT
Latisha Robinson, MFT
Theresa Garner, Monitor Technician
Bea Friia, Unit Secretary