Lisa Austin, Patient Ambassador, with SSM Health Good Samaritan Hospital - Mt. Vernon, was recently honored with The DAISY Lifetime Achievement Award.
The DAISY Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes nurses who have devoted their lives and careers to the compassionate care of others. Nurses are nominated by their colleagues for their life-long dedication to compassion in nursing through active mentoring, role modeling, advocating for their patients and promoting the positive image of nursing.
To be considered for the award, the nominees must have 25+ years of service, a distinguished career in nursing, a special concern for those who are underserved and marginalized, and be instrumental in implementing the mission of SSM Health with their team.
Austin's colleagues share that she is a DAISY Nurse deep in her soul, her nominations were filled with examples of her passion for the profession.
"Lisa is compassion and care, she is genuine and cares for the patients and families in a way that is beautiful and honest."
"Lisa has the ability to take almost any situation and turn it into something positive, to find opportunities to work better together, to create meaningful connections between staff and patient and to be a calming presence."
"Lisa is the person we all hope to be like when we grow up. She radiates the mission of SSM Health and God's love for others. She sings with patients, she prays with patients, and she sings and prays with staff in the hallways and in our offices on hard days. She is clinical, she knows the science side of nursing impressively well, but she knows just as much about the 'art' of nursing and the healing power of presence."
"Lisa goes above and beyond, not just in our four walls, but in God's community around the world. Lisa volunteers her time by visiting Haiti ever year and working tirelessly as a nurse alongside surgeons in the midst of devastation."
"Receiving this award has been one of the most humbling experiences of my 35-year nursing career," shared Austin. "To receive such an honor for the privilege of caring for the sick, goes beyond any words that I could express. Any good I have ever done, or care I have given to anyone, to God be the glory. He is the one who deserves this award. My career could be summed up in a few words, 'Sometimes I help people live, sometimes I help them die, but it is always God and me who help them…I am a nurse.' My life's purpose has been played out in my nursing career, and what a blessing it has been to me!"