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May 19, 2017A week of celebrating nurses at Texas County Memorial Hospital culminated with a “Nurses’ Day” event recognizing specific nurses at TCMH on May 5.

Texas County Memorial Hospital named its first DAISY Award recipient on Friday—Bailey Walker, an LPN on the medical surgical floor at TCMH. Walker was nominated for the award by Linda Pamperien, whose grandfather, Wilbur Mayfield, was a patient under Walker’s care for two months at TCMH. Left to right are Pamperien; Doretta Todd-Willis, TCMH chief nursing officer; Omanez Fockler, TCMH board of trustees member; Wes Murray, TCMH chief excutive officer; Walker; John Sawyer, TCMH med surg director; Shelby and Lylah Ellison, granddaughters of Wilbur Mayfield.
Bailey Walker of Pottersville, a licensed practical nurse (LPN) in the medical surgical department at TCMH, received the first DAISY (Diseases Attacking the Immune System) Award, and the highest recognition awarded at the event for TCMH LPNs and registered nurses (RN) 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. Walker was nominated for the award by Linda Pamperien in recognition of the care provided to Pamperien’s grandfather, Wilbur Mayfield, while he was an inpatient for two months at TCMH.
In the nomination, Pamperien described Walker as “amazing”.
“Someone in our family stayed with my grandpa 24/7 while he was hospitalized,” Pamperien said. “We always found Bailey to be willing to listen to us or to answer any questions, and she was personable and compassionate at all times.”
Pamperien’s nomination explained that Mayfield had his 97th birthday inside the hospital, and Walker brought him a cupcake and arranged for Happy Birthday to be sung at his bedside.
Walker’s family was invited to see her receive the award.
Walker received a special DAISY Award pin; a recognition certificate, a bouquet of fresh daisies, and a hand-carved stone sculpture called “A Healer’s Touch”. An additional recognition ceremony in the TCMH medical surgical department with Walker will feature cinnamon rolls because Cinnabon cinnamon rolls were a personal favorite food of Patrick Barnes during his hospitalization, and he always shared the cinnamon rolls with the nursing staff.
Tamera Dodge, an LPN at the TCMH Medical Complex, and Crystal Carson, a student nurse intern also received special recognition for also being nominated for DAISY awards at TCMH.

Some of the nurses from TCMH that were recognized for outstanding dedication and excellence in their department.
One nurse from each TCMH department with nursing staff was given recognition for “outstanding nursing achievements and excellence”. The nurses were Shelly Beck, LPN, medical surgical department; Elizabeth Curtis, RN, emergency department; Sandy Eaton, LPN, Hospice of Care; Jasmine Frietas, LPN, obstetrics department; Delilah Jones, RN, intensive care unit; Cameron Kuhn, LPN, Home Health of the Ozarks; Leslie Mahan, RN, surgery, and Nadine Wallace, LPN, TCMH clinics.
Nurses week had a M*A*S*H* theme, so TCMH also recognized Belinda Woods, an RN in the obstetrics department, for her 25 years in the Army.

Belinda Woods, RN, was recognized for 25 years of service in in the US Army before becoming a nurse at TCMH.
Also during the week, a mandatory nursing skills lab was provided for the nursing staff. Twelve stations provided education—some of which were hands on—on topics such as wound and skin care, drug-resistant organisms, patient safety, chest tubes and medications.
Scrubs on Wheels came to TCMH to allow nurses and other employees the opportunity to shop for uniforms during the day. All nurses were given a gift certificate to shop at the store.
On Friday breakfast or lunch was served to all members of the TCMH nursing staff.
TCMH currently employs 106 nurses. The nurses work in many departments of the hospital—medical surgical, obstetrics, emergency room, surgery, intensive care, home health, hospice, and clinics