Nurses Receive DAISY Awards

Antelope Valley Medical Center (AVMC) nurses Terry Horton, RN, and Ally Conway, RN, have each been honored with the DAISY Award, an internationally respected honor that recognizes extraordinary nursing care.

AVMC has been participating in the DAISY Award program since 2012. Local recipients are selected based on their clinical expertise and demonstration of extraordinary compassionate care. Nominations are submitted by patients, physicians and co-workers. Our hospital DAISY team reviews all submissions and selects the nurse honoree.

Horton was nominated for taking action when she saw a woman sleeping on a bus bench in inclement weather. Horton could see that the woman was breathing, but could not feel a pulse. She called 911 and waited for help to arrive. The patient was in need of medical attention and was taken to the hospital.

"Terri could have ignored what she saw, but she consciously chose to show compassion and respect for human life," wrote Glynis Adams, RN, senior nurse auditor at AVMC, who nominated Horton for the award.

Conway, a nurse in the intensive care unit at AVMC, was nominated by a colleague for always going above and beyond to help her patients feel safe and well cared for. "She is always kind, compassionate and loving to her patients," the nomination stated. "She has held the hands of a patient’s wife or husband many times while comfort care is provided to the patient. She is always helpful."

DAISY is an acronym for Diseases Attacking the Immune System. The DAISY Award is a collaboration of the DAISY Foundation and the American Organization of Nurse Executives, and was established in 1999 by the family of J. Patrick Barnes following his death due to complications of an auto-immune disease. It is not required that nurses have cared for someone with an immune system disease to be eligible for the DAISY award.

"Terri and Ally are two wonderful examples of the exceptional nursing team we have at AVMC," said Linda Robinson, BSN, clinical director of the OB Clinic.