NEWBERRY — Newberry County Memorial Hospital recently awarded Kimberly Chapman, registered nurse (Medical Surgical Unit) with the DAISY (Diseases Attacking the Immune System) Award.
The DAISY Award was established in memory of Patrick Barnes, who died at the age of 33 of the auto-immune disease ITP. The family created the international award to thank nurses worldwide for the care they give each day.
Every quarter at NCMH nominations are taken from colleagues, peers and family members for the nurse they feel should receive the DAISY Award.
Chapman, who has been at NCMH for around 13 years, said receiving the award was an honor that left her speechless. She said her favorite part about her job is the interaction with her patients.
“I just enjoy the interaction with my patients, I enjoy watching them from the time they come in until the time they are discharged, knowing that I’m making a difference in their healthcare and in their life,” she said.
Chapman was nominated by the family of Perry Hozey. Meg Davis, chief nursing officer, read the nomination during the presentation.
“Kimberly is a nurse, but she will do all kinds of work, even do the things the nurses aide or maid normally does. She is a very, very knowledgeable and smart person, she took really good care of my problems in knee revision surgery, she wasted no time dressing my wound up. One time during activity my wound bled a lot, even had blood all over the floor and myself. Kimberly wasted no time getting my wound to stop bleeding and wasted no time cleaning up the blood on the floor. She is real smart in her skills and good at explaining the things that need to be done after leaving the hospital. She is also clean and neat in her appearance on the job, she deserves an A+ on her report card.”
Knowing that the nomination came from a former patient meant a lot to Chapman.
“It means a lot, especially coming from the patient, that they think the quality of care I provided was above and beyond,” she said. “I would just like to continue to provide them (patients) with the best care that I possibly can.”
NCMH Chief Executive Officer Bruce Baldwin not only commended Chapman, but all of the nurses at NCMH.
“We are extremely proud of all of our nurses here at Newberry Hospital and Kimberly Chapman represents one of the many exceptional nurses that Newberry Hospital has and we also want to recognize Joni Chapman and Becky Bailey as they were also nominated for this award by patients and family members, but we are very proud that Kimberly received this honor today,” he said.
