Wuebben Recognized With Avera Sacred Heart Hospital DAISY Award
Avera Sacred Heart Hospital is pleased to announce that Randa Wuebben, 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.
Wuebben has served as a registered nurse at Avera Sacred Heart Hospital for 47 years, where she has particularly enjoyed mentoring nursing students. She works in the Medical/Surgical Unit. “It was a great honor and surprise to receive the award,” she said. “The nursing profession is a great one, and there are numerous rewards to being a part of it. Every day is unique as far as who you are working with and who you meet. I have had the privilege of helping so many different patients and families in their time of need. I want to thank everyone who made this award possible.”
Matt Tereshinski was the patient who nominated Wuebben for the award after a stay in the hospital. He ultimately passed away on Oct. 22. His wife, Renee, who is the director of the Women’s and Children’s Center at the hospital, said he learned about the program after she came home one day and shared how excited she was to have an award to recognize nurses.
“He just took the nomination process from there,” she said. “Every person Matt came into contact with was professional and did their jobs so well, but there were a few nurses that stood out to Matt. Randa and he had a great patient-nurse relationship. Matt needed someone who was steady, patient, positive and supportive during his cancer diagnosis and treatment, and Randa was all of those things to him.”
In his nomination form, Matt wrote that Randa would spend a large amount of time making him feel better by being present.
“She was genuine with her care for me," he shared. "I don’t think people realize how lonely it gets in the room, especially when you’re there day after day and your mind often wanders to places that are not positive. That is not conducive to getting well and getting to my goal of getting home to my family. Randa got it, and she worked with that goal for me every day. On the rare occasion that she was working but not my nurse, she would still pop in and see if I needed anything, which truly shows her genuine care of people. She would rejoice with me in the positives and would worry with me when things were not going as well. I will always remember her for being the steady, positive person in that time of my stay at Avera Sacred Heart Hospital.”
During a surprise ceremony to announce that Wuebben was receiving the award, Renee and her two daughters, Claire and Madeline, were able to attend. A third daughter, Lauren, could not be present.
“It was bittersweet to hear his words (in the nomination),” Renee said. “We miss him every single moment of the day. My girls were proud of their dad and glad to see Randa and some of the other staff who cared for him. It was a well-deserved recognition for Randa.”
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.