FORT RILEY, Kan. -- The Fort Riley community celebrated National Nurses Week with a cake cutting ceremony and the presentation of the first DAISY Award winner May 8 in the healing garden at Irwin Army Community Hospital.
According to the DAISY Foundation website, DAISY is an acronym that stands for Disease Attacking the Immune System. The award was established in honor of Patrick Barnes, a patient who died from an auto-immune disease in 1999. His family wanted to find a way to honor the nurses who assisted when he was sick and created the foundation to honor nurses across the country.
This year, IACH staff decided to participate in the international DAISY award for Extraordinary Nurses Program to recognize accomplishments of nurses at Fort Riley. The award will be given quarterly.
LaShon Turner, a registered nurse at IACH, was nominated by Scot Bird, installation transportation officer and a patient at IACH, to receive the DAISY award during the ceremony.
"I would like to thank LaShon Turner for her dedication and commitment to performance, customer service and professionalism that (she) has continued to demonstrate throughout the years that she has been assigned as my primary care nurse at IACH," Bird's nomination read. "The long story short is that I am a retired first sergeant that was diagnosed with stage III throat cancer in July 2015. She has been a godsend, to say the least, from the start of my treatments, not only to me, but my family as well."
From the beginning of Bird's treatments, Turner provided support, which included ensuring the necessary outpatient services were requested and submitted, referrals processed, prescriptions were submitted and refilled. She also worked to correct billings that were submitted erroneously or denied by TRICARE in a timely manner.
"I not only witnessed it firsthand, but learned a long time ago that her work ethics and overall responsibilities did not stop at the front desk … during the entire time I have been assigned to her clinic at the IACH hospital," Bird said.
Turner received a certificate of appreciation, a goody bag and a sculpture titled "The Healer's Touch" from Col. Mark MacDougall, chief of nursing at IACH. She also cut the cake in celebration of National Nurses Week at the end of the ceremony.
Retired Col. Reyn Mosier, chief of quality management and deputy commander for quality and safety at IACH, was the event guest speaker. He talked about the national theme, which was Nursing: The Balance of Mind, Body and Spirit and shared with the nurses a reminder of who they serve.
"We know that nurses do not get enough credit for all the daily challenges you face and overcome," he said. "You face the challenges of an ever-changing workforce. Many times there is a lot of changes related to electronic medical records, telehealth and quality of healthcare-- all while keeping our patients health care wants and needs at the forefront of what we do."
Social Sharing