Monica Mapes Receives DAISY Award
Monica Mapes, RN, Receives DAISY Award
Extraordinary nurse honored at Woodland Memorial Hospital.
Woodland Memorial Hospital joined the DAISY Foundation in May 2015 and our most recent DAISY Award recipient is Monica Mapes, RN. Monica is a nurse in the Family Birth Center, and was nominated by her colleagues for going above and beyond to help a family facing the impending loss of their mother. It was Nov. 24, 2015, two days before Thanksgiving when Woodland Memorial Hospital's Social Worker, Maria Simmons met a group of siblings in the ICU at the bedside of their dying mother. The eldest daughter mentioned she wished she could find someone to do a mold of her mother's hand for her younger sister, as her sister was probably too young to remember her mother as well as she would. Without hesitation, Maria contacted Monica Mapes in the Family Birth Center, who creates molds of babies who are stillborn; to help grieving parents honor their baby's memory.
"When I asked, Monica was happy to help and immediately started working on gathering the supplies," said Maria Simmons, MSW. "On short notice, Monica was able to gather enough donated supplies from two local dentist offices, to make not one but three molds, one for each of the siblings. Her kindness and determination allowed for us to give these children an amazing gift to remember their mother."
"Both Monica and Maria touch our hearts each and every day," said Diane (Dinks) Maltby, RN, Clinical Coordinator, Family Birth Center. "Together they exemplify our Mission Statement, and we are lucky to have them both at Woodland Memorial Hospital."
The not-for-profit DAISY Foundation is based in Glen Ellen, CA, and was established by family members in memory of J. Patrick Barnes who died at 33 of ITP, an auto-immune disease. The DAISY Award was established because the Barnes Family was awestruck by the clinical skills, caring and compassion of the nurses who cared for Patrick, so they created this international award to say thank you to nurses everywhere.
Each quarter, a nurse will be selected by Woodland Memorial Hospital's nursing administration to receive The DAISY Award. At a presentation given in front of the nurse's colleagues, physicians, patients, and visitors, the honoree will receive a certificate commending her or him for being an "Extraordinary Nurse." The honoree will also be given a beautiful and meaningful sculpture called A Healer's Touch, hand-carved by artists of the Shona Tribe in Africa.
One day while Pat was in the hospital, he asked his family to bring him a Cinnabon® cinnamon roll plus enough for all the nurses in his unit. With the help of Cinnabon's parent company, FOCUS Brands, The DAISY Foundation carries on this tradition by serving Cinnabons to all the nurses in the Award recipient's unit in thanks for everything they do for their patients and families.
"When Patrick was critically ill, our family experienced first-hand the remarkable skill and care nurses provide patients every day and night. Yet these unsung heroes are seldom recognized for the super-human work they do," said Bonnie Barnes, President and Co-Founder of The DAISY Foundation. The kind of work the nurses at Woodland Memorial Hospital are called on to do every day epitomizes the purpose of The DAISY Award."
"We are proud to be among the hospitals participating in the DAISY Award program. Nurses are heroes everyday," said Kim Deese, Chief Nurse Executive at Woodland Memorial Hospital. "It's important that our nurses know their work is highly valued, and The DAISY Foundation provides a way for us to do that."
Visit DAISY Foundation for a complete listing of hospitals currently running the program, please go to DAISYfoundation.org.
This is one initiative of The DAISY Foundation whose overall goal is to help fight diseases of the immune system. Additionally, DAISY offers J. Patrick Barnes Grants for Nursing Research and Evidence-Based Practice Projects and provides assistance to ITP support groups. More information is available on their website.