Press Release from Emily Sloan, FirstHealth of the Carolinas
RAEFORD, N.C. – Whitney Austin, R.N., has been recognized as a DAISY Award winner by FirstHealth of the Carolinas.
Austin, who works as a nurse at FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital (MRH) – Hoke, was nominated by the family member of a patient who said she was compassionate and attentive.
“My wife is a cancer survivor and was in excruciating pain while experiencing vertigo. Whitney kept popping into the room to see if there was anything she could do, all while reassuring us that the doctor was on the way,” the family member said in a nomination letter. “Whitney offered compassionate care and sharp attention to detail.”
The family member and patient had two additional interactions with Austin during visits to the emergency room.
“The next time we ran into Whitney was in the middle of the night when my wife was again admitted to the hospital. Because COVID-19 procedures were in effect, Whitney came out to the waiting room to reassure me my wife was being treated and stuck with her while she was transported by ambulance to Moore Regional Hospital in Pinehurst,” the family member wrote. “In January, my wife made another trip to the ER in the middle of the night. Whitney was always vigilant and provided a lifeline of hope amidst chaos. My wife is a two-time uterine cancer survivor and has traveled all over the United States in search of a cure. Whitney stands out amongst other nurses as kind-hearted and compassionate.”
Anastasia Jennings, R.N., Austin’s manager at MRH – Hoke, said she is always attentive to the needs of her patients.
“Whitney started here in the MRH-Hoke emergency department as a new graduate nurse and excelled through the year 2020 with the kindness and compassion of a seasoned caregiver,” Jennings said. “Even on the hardest and busiest days of the pandemic, Whitney made sure she provided care that was compassionate with great attention to detail to each patient she cared for. We appreciate and love Whitney being a part of our MRH-Hoke emergency department team.”
The DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses was established by the Daisy Foundation, a not-for-profit, based in Glen Ellen, Calif. The foundation was started by family members in memory of J. Patrick Barnes, who died at the age of 33 from complications of Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura, a little known but not uncommon auto-immune disease.
The care Barnes and his family received from nurses inspired this unique means of thanking nurses for making a profound difference in the lives of their patients and patients’ families. Today, there are more than 2,800 health care facilities in all 50 states and 17 other countries honoring their nurses with the DAISY Award.
FirstHealth of the Carolinas, which includes Moore Regional Hospital, Moore Regional Hospital – Richmond, Moore Regional Hospital – Hoke and Montgomery Memorial Hospital, recognizes an extraordinary nurse each month and has since 2014. For more information on the DAISY Award, or to nominate a deserving nurse, visit FirstHealth’s website.
