Heather Nave, RN, Honored with DAISY Award

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A nurse at Methodist Medical Center was honored recently with The DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses. The award is part of the DAISY Foundation’s program to recognize the super-human efforts nurses perform every day. The DAISY Award was established in 1999 by the family of a patient who had received extraordinary care and compassion from his nurses during his final days.

Heather Nave, registered nurse and DAISY Award honoree.

Congratulations to Heather Nave, a registered nurse on Methodist’s 5W Heart-Lung-Vascular unit, for being recognized with the DAISY award. Heather was nominated by a grateful patient’s family member.  Methodist’s interim Chief Nursing Officer, Shaun Clayton, delivered the award during a special Nurses’ Week event and members of the patient’s family were on hand during the heartfelt presentation.

Read her nomination below and portion of the remarks:

“Our Paw Paw is currently on his 8th day of hospice care. All the nurses and staff have been so good to him and all of us, but yesterday Heather went above and beyond to keep Paw Paw comfortable and to support his wife of 69 years, who is struggling so much with losing him. Gramma said she would like nothing more than to be able to have a bed next to Paw Paw’s, to be able to lay with him one last time. Even though the room isn’t big, and this is an unusual request, Heather went out of her way to make it happen. She somehow tracked down an extra bed, rearranged the room, and made it up for Gramma to be a close to Paw Paw as possible. At 87 and exhausted by the grief, it meant so much to her to be able to take a nap next to Paw Paw. Gramma struggles to hear even with her hearing aids, and Heather was so empathetic and understanding about Gramma’s frustration, making a point to talk directly to Gramma and to speak loudly each time she came in the room. Heather connected with Gramma about losing her own dad recently through hospice, and they cried together. It was the most beautiful example of compassionate nursing I have ever seen. Thank you so much, Heather. What you did for Gramma meant so much to her. Our whole family appreciates you more than you could ever know.”

“Heather, the honor and compassion you showed this couple, and their entire family speaks volumes as to who you are as a nurse,” said Clayton. “The passage between this life and beyond is an incredibly difficult time, so thank you for shepherding this beautiful family through this painful transition by sharing not only your kindness, but your own journey of loss.  Over time, the clinical aspects of this experience will fade from their thoughts, but they will remember you and how you made them feel forever.”

Heather Nave’s teammates and members of the patient’s family were on hand for her presentation.

If you would like to recognize a nurse at Methodist who made an impact in your care or the care of a loved one, click here to be directed to the online nomination form.

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