Sandra Avalos, RN
SSU Good Samaritan Hospital
Baltimore, Maryland
Sandra Avalos, RN on SSU was very moved to have been presented
with Good Samaritan Hospital’s first DAISY award. She was a bit overwhelmed
as members of the hospital’s leadership and governing councils joined her own
family in honoring her. We were privileged to have Mark and Bonnie Barnes
here to explain how the Foundation came to be.
Sandra was nominated three times. Her peers on the Short Stay Unit, her Manager Ceci
Pukacz, and the Medical Director of the unit, Bernie Ravitz, MD, all described her
dedication and focus on her patients and their families. They talked specifically about
her care of a patient during our second East Coast blizzard and the fact that she worked
straight through on her birthday when she could have accepted transportation home to her
own family. The Medical Director nominated her for her critical thinking skills in
preventing a patient from receiving a contraindicated drug. Sandra was described by her
peers as having a huge thirst for clinical knowledge and as having an excellent spirit.
“She touches the lives of patients daily. It was our pleasure to present her with Good
Samaritan’s first DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses. ( Photo is in Word document.)