Gerry is the epitome of what the DAISY Award stands for: celebrating the extraordinary clinical skills and compassionate care given by nurses every day.
In Gerry's case, there is not one "shining moment" so much as the dedication, compassion and care that she has given as a loyal Baptist employee for over 37 years, the last 30 working in our department. Capturing what Gerry does is a bit more difficult, because she is so sneaky about it. Gerry quietly takes care of all her patient duties, mentors and supports fellow staff members, without drawing attention to herself. As a result, much of her work could go unnoticed, but there is no way to say what all would be noticed if it were not for "Gerry being Gerry" and giving and caring as she does.
She often uses her lunch time to catch up on paperwork or to go visit any of our patients that have been hospitalized. It is hard to give one glowing specific story because what makes Gerry so special is that she does something every day that is worth mentioning. Our department is a unique one that sees some patients for months and often times for years. Gerry remembers these patients seen years ago and calls them by name when they stop by to say "hi". Many times over the years she has gone to funeral home visitations, not because she was asked or got paid to go, but because she simply cared that much for the patient and their family.
On one occasion, she even picked tomatoes for one of the patients. Gerry did this because she knew this patient's pride and joy was his tomato garden and he fell too ill to pick his tomatoes. That is Gerry, one who takes the time to get to know her patients - as people, not merely illnesses to be treated. She has by all means made the lives of many patients better. She has made us better as co-workers, as a team in our department. Gerry Pierce is a glowing example of all the things for which The DAISY Award was created to honor.