I would like to nominate Tina Dehart Williams, an extraordinary nurse that works on the Mother Baby Unit at Miami Valley Hospital, for the DAISY Award. Heroism is too often measured in terms of great deeds that are associated with great danger and personal risk, but in the case of this nurse, her greatness is measured by her ability to quietly go about her business of teaching new moms and dads to be a family. Tina never looks for any special recognition for her efforts; she does what she does because she knows that her work has purpose.

A few weeks ago, Tina was caring for a new young mother and her baby that were patients on the Mother/Baby Unit. This new mother will never know how very fortunate she was to have Tina care for her and her new baby; but I know and the neonatologists caring for her infant know. This young mother had very little prenatal care and had not been compliant with the treatment regimen the physicians in the OB clinic prescribed for her. As a result of her non-compliance, her infant was in grave danger. The mother’s past and current situation was documented everywhere in the mom’s and infant’s record. But even as the mom and her new baby were being prepared for discharge, nothing was documented that the situation had been addressed and resolved.

For the two days following the birth of this infant, everyone caring for this new mom and baby made the assumption that, because of all the documentation, the neonatologists were aware of the situation. Tina felt that there was something amiss. She did a little research on her own and found that indeed more needed to be done. She contacted the neonatologist to make sure he was aware of the situation; he was not. The neonatologist admitted the infant to NICU to begin the course of treatment. He immediately commended Tina for bringing this to his attention, saying. “If Tina had not spoken up, this infant would have been discharged without treatment and would surely have suffered CNS damage.”

This mom and baby will never know how one soft spoken, unassuming nurse changed the course of their lives. DAISY nurses go Above and Beyond, Make a Difference, are Persistent, give Attention to Detail, Communicate Effectively, and provide Exceptional Nursing. Tina possesses all the qualities of a DAISY nurse and more.