Wiebelhaus Recognized With Avera Sacred Heart Hospital DAISY Award

Avera Sacred Heart Hospital is pleased to announce that Sarah Wiebelhaus, RN, is the most recent recipient of our quarterly nurse recognition program called the DAISY Award.

The DAISY Program honors and celebrates the skillful and compassionate care nurses provide every day. DAISY is an acronym for “Diseases Attacking the Immune System.” The DAISY Award has grown into a meaningful recognition program embraced by health care organizations around the world, including multiple Avera facilities.

Nurses at any Avera Sacred Heart facilities are eligible to receive the DAISY Award.

Wiebelhaus has been a registered nurse for 16 years and works in the ICU at Avera Sacred Heart Hospital.

“Thank you for this great honor. I am very humbled and grateful, as I work with many excellent nurses who are deserving of this award, as well,” Wiebelhaus said. 

She started her nursing career at Avera Sacred Heart Hospital as a float nurse; however, she also worked at the hospital as a nurse aide and health unit coordinator before and while going to nursing school. Wiebelhaus left the Yankton area for a while to live in Texas and Oklahoma, where she also worked in various nursing roles.

Wiebelhaus aspires to care for her patients in the same way she would want a nurse to care for her own family members.

“Anything within my power to make patients and their families more comfortable while they are here with me, I will do it,” she said. 

Wiebelhaus was nominated by the daughter of a patient who was in the ICU with COVID-19 and other health concerns.

“Once my mom took a turn for the worst and we came for our ‘window’ visit, Sarah was so kind to all of us!” the daughter shared. “I could tell how caring and kind she was, and how well she was going to take care of Mom.”

Wiebelhaus would hold the phone to the patient’s ear when family called. 

“She took care of mom with love!” the daughter wrote. “We knew mom wasn't going to make it through this terrible time, and Sarah was so caring and loving while we were there. You could tell she's more than a nurse.  She's a very caring person and it showed.”

While in nursing school, Wiebelhaus said she learned that nursing is both an art and a science.

“The science of nursing is applying knowledge of the disease process and techniques learned throughout your nursing career,” she stated. “The art of nursing is more complicated than the science of nursing. It is the human aspect of nursing. It is about building a rapport with your patient and the patient's family, and being able to empathize with them. I consider myself very blessed to be a part of some of the most vulnerable times in the lives of patients and their families.”

A committee of community members and Avera employees evaluates the DAISY Award nominations and selects a winner every quarter.

The DAISY Foundation was established by family members in memory of J. Patrick Barnes. Patrick died at age 33 in 1999 from complications of the auto-immune disease Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (ITP). The care Patrick and his family received from nurses while he was ill inspired this unique means of thanking nurses for making a profound difference in the lives of their patients and patient families.

For more information, visit DaisyFoundation.org.

Anyone who has had a positive nursing care experience can nominate a deserving nurse for a DAISY award by filling out the online form at DAISYnomination.org/4381.