Fond du Lac Regional Clinic Family Medicine LPN receives DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses honor

Kay Heus, LPN, Family Medicine, has been named a DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses winner at SSM Health Fond du Lac Regional Clinic.

The DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses® is part of The DAISY Foundation’s mission to recognize the extraordinary, compassionate nursing care they provide patients and families every day. 

The DAISY Foundation is a not-for-profit organization, established in memory of J. Patrick Barnes by members of his family. Patrick died at the age of 33 in late 1999 from complications of Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (ITP), a little known but not uncommon auto-immune disease. (DAISY is an acronym for Diseases Attacking the Immune System.) The care Patrick and his family received from nurses while he was ill inspired this unique means of thanking nurses for making a profound difference in the lives of their patients and patient families.

Nurses may be nominated by patients, families, and colleagues. Awards are presented to one recipient on a quarterly basis at celebrations attended by the honoree’s colleagues, patients, and visitors. 

Heus was nominated by a patient who wrote:

“I was in severe pain and could not get medical attention due to many factors. It was cold, lonely, and frightening! I finally found Nurse Kay H. in Family Medicine. She listened, evaluated the situation very expertly, and solved the problem using various tools at her disposal, including a telehealth appointment. A short time later and only with Nurse Kay’s determination and expertise, I was on a telehealth appointment with an SSM Health doctor who accurately diagnosed me with quadricep tendonitis. The physician prescribed an over-the-counter medication, and within hours, I was feeling better. Within a few days, I felt so great I could hardly remember the excruciating pain I had been experiencing, and I became fully functional again! Nurse Kay not only evaluated the situation very professionally and expertly but was also clearly determined to get me the medical care I needed and relieve my suffering. She hooked me up with the SSM Health app that allowed a telehealth appointment and set it up for me. Kay was even mindful enough to call me before she left her shift for the day to make sure everything was set up! This intelligent, amazing nurse is wonderful. If Kay’s goal was to make the world a better place when she chose nursing as her career, she has succeeded wildly. This nurse changed my life and created a very favorable patient experience for SSM Health. She is intelligent, conscientious, kind, articulate, skilled, and extremely professional.”

During a brief ceremony, Heus was recognized by clinic leaders – Dr. Jamie Deering, Dr. Carly Salter, Jodi Dietzel, and Missy Tate. Heus received a certificate commending her as an “Extraordinary Nurse.”  The certificate reads: “In deep appreciation of all you do, who you are, and the incredibly meaningful difference you make in the lives of so many people.” Honorees also receive a DAISY Award pin, and a beautiful and meaningful sculpture called A Healer’s Touch, hand-carved by artists of the Shona Tribe in Zimbabwe.

“When Patrick was critically ill, our family experienced first-hand the remarkable skill and care nurses provide patients every day and night,” according to Bonnie Barnes, FAAN, president and co-founder of The DAISY Foundation. “Yet these unsung heroes are seldom recognized for the super-human, extraordinary, compassionate work they do. The kind of work the nurses at the Fond du Lac Regional Clinic are called on to do every day epitomizes the purpose of The DAISY Award.”

More information is available at http://DAISYfoundation.org.