Rachel Thomas, RN, who works on the BMT unit at TUH-Jeanes Campus, received the July 2024 DAISY Award for nursing excellence. Thomas was recognized for her exceptional bedside manner, her extraordinary clinical skill, and her willingness to go above and beyond for her patients, as this note from a former patient demonstrates:
“THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart for your thoughtful, attentive, and supportive care. Through your patience, teachings, and every act of kindness, I am forever transformed. You understood how important it was to heal the patient as a person and not just to treat the disease and the symptoms. My month-long hospital stay has been a crash course: an intense experiential learning that has made me a better patient advocate. I learned from you about the fascinating science of bone cancers and the health equity issues that come with being a person of color finding a potential bone marrow donor. As I get healthier and stronger, I am inspired to do what I can to give back and to give other people of color a fighting chance. You tapped into your own network, both professionally and personally, to expand this cause to possible increase the number of under-represented people joining the registry. You helped me confront my disease with courage and hope.”
The DAISY Award was established in memory of J. Patrick Barnes, who passed away from an autoimmune disease. The Barnes family was awestruck by the clinical skills, caring, and compassion of the nurses who cared for Patrick, and created this international award to say thank you to nurses everywhere.