I am writing to nominate Ashley Von Seggern, from the 8th floor of Methodist Hospital’s south tower, as the MOST deserving recipient of the DAISY Award.

My husband has been a patient at Methodist three times in the last three months, and has been critically ill each time. Following his second visit, I sent in the DAISY Award Nomination form for Ashley, but apparently it did not reach you or her supervisor. Therefore I am writing again, because this young lady is the best nurse I have ever encountered in seventy-one years! While I have been a pretty healthy person, we have had more trips to the hospital for our three daughters, two sons-in law, seven grandchildren and my husband who has been extremely ill more times over the years than I can even begin to count.

I will hasten to add that with only one exception we have found the entire staff of Methodist to be kind, professional, cooperative, and wonderful to work with. Know that Ashley stands head and shoulders above everyone.

This morning I walked into my husband’s room, and he had a big smile on his face. He said, “Guess who’s here?” and Ashley turned around. What a great way to start the day! I think I probably hugged the breath out of her!

Ashley completely understands and centers her attention on her patient. In speaking with her, you can tell she has taken the time to review the medical records and is immediately aware of each physician connected with the patient. She doesn’t have to stop to check what needs to be done, SHE KNOWS.

Ashley will only settle for the best solutions and care management for her patients. She is pro-active in finding ways to improve comfort, and is never too busy to completely answer a question or address a concern of the patient and/or the family members. She makes sure any questions for the doctor are answered and makes sure that answer gets to the patient and family.

Two emergency incidents took place on our last visit which I will discuss later. Both times Ashley moved quickly. She assembled all the emergency staff that was needed for the situations and it was obvious that each person respected her medical knowledge and responded to her direction, and his life was saved both times. She works well with all members of the staff.

Ashley’s kindness and compassion are evident every time she interacts with a patient or family member. She goes out of her way to keep people comfortable and informed, and knows when people are getting close to the breaking point, and diverts that with her understanding and words of experience. She stayed AFTER her shift had ended to help comfort our family.

It is evident that Ashley is committed to her profession and the Methodist community. She is thoroughly knowledgeable of the services available and how to access them. She bonds with her patients and truly cares about them. Today, for example, the woman next door to my husband’s room was not doing well. The family members (quite a few of them) were in the hall crying, and judging from the flurry of activity going in and out of the room, things were pretty grim. While Ashley never made any comment, it was obvious that she was personally concerned, and when her pager went off, she excused herself and immediately responded without hesitation.


Ashley exemplifies her outstanding clinical assessment skills and decision making capabilities as I discussed above in the two emergency episodes last month. I believe this is due to several things: first, she REALLY cares about her patients; secondly, she takes the time to know the patient and his/her medical history; third, she is obviously intelligent and well educated in her field; and last, but not least (and these are my brother-in-laws exact words and my opinion too) “she is just a genuinely nice person.”