Blythedale Nurse Celebrated for Providing Extraordinary Patient Care

VALHALLA, N.Y. - May 30, 2013 - PRLog -- VALHALLA, NY (May 2013) – On Monday, May 13, Joy Caballero, RN, received a DAISY Award for Exceptional Nurses at Blythedale Children’s Hospital for the second quarter of 2013, in recognition of her remarkable patient care.  Caballero was nominated by the mother of a patient and received the national award during a ceremony at the Hospital this week.  

The mother of the patient who nominated Caballero wrote in the nomination form, "It was a pleasure to have Joy as my son’s nurse.”  She indicated that Caballero’s diligent care of her baby boy’s every need afforded her the opportunity to rest and get some sleep at night.  "She responded to his cries and always swaddled him nicely,” she wrote.  "She took care of him as if he was a part of her family.”

"Blythedale nurses consistently provide each child and their families with high quality patient care,” said Blythedale’s Chief Operating Officer Maureen Desimone, RN.  "We strive to create an exceptional patient experience and the compassion that our nurses give to each child here at the Hospital is unparalleled. I am thrilled to congratulate Joy as the recipient of this quarter’s DAISY Award and to thank her for the extraordinary care that she provides to our patients.”

Jill M. Wegener, MSN, RN, CCRN, Blythedale Hospital’s new Chief Nursing Officer, attended the ceremony during her first day on the job.  "I was so happy to be a part of the ceremony and to honor Joy, who is an outstanding role model in Blythedale’s nursing community,” she said.  "Nursing is not just a science, but also an art, and clearly Joy’s combined clinical expertise and remarkable tenderness have made a lasting impact on this family.”  

In addition to the touching words of praise, Caballero received an "Exceptional Nurse” certificate from the DAISY Foundation, a daisy pin, and a small handcrafted "Healer’s Touch” sculpture made by Shona artisans in Zimbabwe.  The sculpture represents the importance of healers, and reflects the value placed on nurses by Blythedale, its patients and parents.

Caballero has been a nurse at Blythedale Children’s Hospital since 1989 and she works on the Infant and Toddler Unit.  Caballero obtained her BSN from Silliman University in the Philippines and she presently resides in Flushing, New York.

Registered nurses may be nominated for a DAlSY Award by staff, co-workers, patients or patients’ parents and family members. Winners are selected by an 11-member committee based on a list of criteria including compassionate caring, inspiration of others, resolution of patient care challenges, and establishing a caring presence and healing bond with the patient and family.

The DAISY Award, an acronym for Diseases Attacking the Immune System, is a national program that began in 2001 by the DAISY Foundation in Glen Ellen, California. The DAISY Foundation was started by the family of J. Patrick Barnes who died at age 33 of complications of idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, a bleeding condition in which the blood doesn’t clot properly. Deeply touched by the compassionate care Patrick received from his nurses, the Barnes family created the national DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses to recognize the incredible work that nurses do every day. Focus Brands Inc., makers of Cinnabon cinnamon rolls, and AONE (American Organization for Nurse Executives) are corporate sponsors of the DAISY Awards.

For more information on the DAISY Award at Blythedale Children’s Hospital, please contact Blythedale’s Clinical Nurse Educator Linda Bove at lindabo@blythedale.org or 914-831-2433.  For more information about the DAISY Foundation, please visit www.daisyfoundation.org

About Blythedale Children’s Hospital

As New York’s only freestanding, specialty children’s hospital, Blythedale Children’s Hospital is dedicated to improving the health status and quality of life of children with complex medical illnesses and disabling conditions through superb multi-disciplinary patient care, teaching, research, and advocacy programs.  Blythedale’s board-certified physicians, nurses, and other clinical staff (social workers, respiratory therapists, clinical pharmacists, Child Life specialists, etc.) and New York State’s largest hospital-based pediatric therapy department (PT, OT and Speech) work together to provide intensive and innovative multi-disciplinary clinical and therapeutic care to help children achieve their medical and rehabilitative goals for independent living, and return to their communities.  Blythedale is also the only Hospital in New York State with its own, on-site public school district.  

For more information about Blythedale Children’s Hospital, visit www.blythedale.org.