Robin Anderson honored with DAISY Award

Robin Anderson, second from right, was recognized recently with a DAISY Award for her extraordinary nursing care. Celebrating her at the presentation ceremony during National Hospital Week/National Nurses Week are Parkview Health South Market president Doug Selig, Parkview Huntington Hospital ED/MIU manager Matt Bomba and Parkview Huntington vice president of patient care services Alison Pershing.

Robin Anderson, BSN, RN, an ambulatory care nurse in the Medication Infusion Unit (MIU) at Parkview Huntington Hospital, has been honored with a DAISY Award.

Anderson, who has been providing nursing care as part of the Parkview Huntington team since January of last year, was presented with the award during the hospital’s celebration of National Hospital Week and National Nurses Week.

The DAISY Award program recognizes and thanks nurses by highlighting the extraordinary gifts they give patients and families through unwavering care.

Anderson was nominated by one of her patients, Darlene Shideler. While supervising Shideler’s regular medication infusion, Anderson noted that the woman was struggling to breathe. She listened to Shideler’s lungs, heard an irregularity and immediately transported the patient to the emergency department (ED), where the ED physician determined that Shideler had a build-up of fluid surrounding one of her lungs. Following a procedure to drain the fluid, Shideler was transported by ambulance to Parkview Regional Medical Center in Fort Wayne for further observation in case additional interventions were needed.

“Robin was quick to decide that I needed medical attention and expressed her concerns to my husband and me,” Shideler explained in her DAISY Award nomination of Anderson. “She was very caring and treated me as if I was a family member. She was very concerned for my well-being.”

At the award ceremony, Anderson was celebrated by ED/MIU manager Matt Bomba, vice president of patient care services Alison Pershing, Parkview Health South Market president Doug Selig, Parkview Health chief nursing executive Juli Johnson and Parkview Huntington co-workers, including her MIU nursing colleague Jennifer Sorg. Anderson’s family was also present at the ceremony, as were the grateful patient and her husband, Gilbert Shideler, who praised Anderson again and thanked her in person.

“Robin always greets me with a smile and makes me feel like I am her only patient,” Mrs. Shideler said. “I appreciate her abilities and caring attitude.”

The DAISY Award was created by The DAISY Foundation, a nonprofit organization established in memory of J. Patrick Barnes by his family. At age 33, he was admitted to a hospital and diagnosed with an autoimmune disease called Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (ITP). Sadly, Barnes lost his battle with the illness only eight weeks later. After his passing, his family wanted to honor his memory and decided to create a recognition program. Barnes’ wife, Tena, developed the acronym DAISY, which stands for Diseases Attacking the Immune System, and the DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses was born. Through this recognition, they would help honor the super-human work nurses do for patients and their families every day.

More information can be found at www.daisyfoundation.org. Parkview Huntington Hospital is located at 2001 Stults Road in Huntington.