TAVARES, Fla., May 16, 2019 – AdventHealth Waterman recognized registered nurses Jenny O’Cull and Laura Perry with the DAISY award.
The DAISY Award is an international program that rewards and celebrates extraordinary clinical skill and compassionate care provided by nurses.
O’Cull works on the 5 South unit caring for medical and oncology patients and was nominated for this recognition by a patient.
“I was diagnosed with having end-stage COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease). I was devastated. I was thinking that it was the end. I thought I was about to die. I was hyperventilating in a panic. Jenny had a long talk with me about what ‘end-stage’ meant. That made me feel a lot better. She had patience with me and she talked to me. She embraced me,” the patient wrote in a nomination of O’Cull.
“All the nurses were great, but she went over and above her duties. I know she had a lot of other things to do, but she took the time to tell me about the COPD and the things that I could do. I feel so much better about it. I just don’t know what I would do without her,” the patient added. “You can tell when people really care about you. I know she cares about all her patients in the same way she cares about me. She was born to be a nurse.”
Perry is the director of the emergency department at AdventHealth Waterman and was nominated for DAISY’s nurse leader award by a colleague.
“Laura has developed into a perfect leader. I joined the department many years ago. It has been amazing to watch her go from charge nurse to manager to director. She has exceptional skills and is never too busy to help with the patients,” the colleague wrote in Perry’s nomination. “Laura is very supportive and will always act as your cheerleader. She is a leader and a friend, and it is a joy to work with her. She encourages our personal growth and she leads by example.”
Created in 1999, more than 2,500 healthcare facilities in all 50 states, as well as 15 other countries, use the DAISY Award to honor nurses.
In recognition of this honor, O’Cull and Perry received a bouquet of daisies, a certificate, a tote bag, and a hand-carved stone sculpture of the “Healer’s Touch” by an artist of the Shona Tribe in Zimbabwe.
About AdventHealth Waterman
AdventHealth Waterman in Tavares has 287-beds and is one of the six hospitals in Flagler, Lake and Volusia counties that composes the AdventHealth Central Florida Division - North Region. Formerly known as Florida Hospital Waterman, the organization’s parent company changed the name of all wholly-owned entities to AdventHealth on Jan. 2, 2019. Based in Altamonte Springs, AdventHealth is a connected system of care. With more than 80,000 team members, AdventHealth is one of the nation’s largest faith-based health care systems with nearly 50 hospitals and hundreds of care sites in nearly a dozen states. AdventHealth Waterman is located in the heart of Lake County and was founded in 1938 by Frank Waterman. With the mission of Extending the Healing Ministry of Christ, AdventHealth Waterman provides whole person care to heal the body, mind and spirit. For more information about AdventHealth Waterman, visit http://AdventHealthWaterman.com.
Photo Caption:
Registered nurses Laura Perry (left) and Jenny O’Cull (right) hold a celebratory cake. Both AdventHealth Waterman nurses received the DAISY award, an international program that rewards and celebrates extraordinary clinical skill and compassionate care provided by nurses.