DAISY Award given and nurses honored at TCMH

Texas County Memorial Hospital honored Cora Turnbull of Cabool with a DAISY Award during a cinnamon roll breakfast ceremony held for all the DAISY Award nominees on Wednesday, November 16. 

Turnbull is a registered nurse (RN) paramedic at TCMH. The DAISY (Diseases Attacking the Immune System) Award is the highest recognition award for an RN and licensed practical nurse (LPN) at TCMH.  

The DAISY Award is part of the non-profit DAISY Foundation of Glen Ellen, CA. The Foundation was established by the family of J. Patrick Barnes.  Patrick died at the age of 33 in late 1999 from complications of idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, a little-known but not uncommon auto-immune disease.  

The care Patrick and his family received from nurses while Patrick was ill and hospitalized inspired the DAISY Award as a way of thanking nurses for making a profound difference in the lives of their patients and patient families. The DAISY Award recipient must be nominated for a specific act of extraordinary care that was experienced by the person making the nomination.  

“We are very proud to partner with Daisy to deliver this award as we have many extraordinary nurses at TCMH,” Angela Cox, TCMH RN, and Daisy coordinator said.  

Turnbull received the DAISY Award from a nomination she received from Ashley, who submitted the recognition for her vital role in saving her life and her daughter’s life. 

In the nomination, Ashley explained how Turnbull stepped up in a huge way to deliver her breached baby at 37 weeks pregnant in the back seat of her brother’s car since there was no time to get her to the hospital.  She described Turnbull as a strong woman in the most critical moment and a true superhero.  Ashley said she is forever grateful for Cora as she took the worst possible situation and turned it into the absolute best possible conclusion.  

“Cora is an excellent nurse, and we are fortunate to have her in our emergency medical services department,” Courtney Owens, TCMH nursing administration, said. “She is very deserving of this award, and we are very proud of her.”

Turnbull received a special DAISY Award pin; a recognition certificate, a bouquet of fresh flowers, and a hand-carved stone sculpture by artists in Zimbabwe called “A Healer’s Touch.” Cinnamon rolls were served at the breakfast because Cinnabon cinnamon rolls were a personal favorite food of Patrick Barnes during his hospitalization, and he always shared the cinnamon rolls with his nursing staff.

Alisa Contreras, Emergency Room; Cheryl Maley, Hospice; Shanda Melton, Emergency Room; Paul Fockler, Nursing Admin; Lisa Pellerito, Emergency Room; Lauren Conaway, Medical-Surgical; Mary Glotfelty, Emergency Room also received special recognition and a DAISY pin for being nominated for DAISY Awards at TCMH.

TCMH currently employs 94 nurses. The nurses work in many departments of the hospital—medical-surgical, obstetrics, emergency room, surgery, intensive care, home health, hospice, and clinics.