Hubbs Honored with DAISY Award at Avera Sacred Heart Hospital

Carissa Hubbs, RN, was recently recognized with Avera Sacred Heart Hospital’s quarterly DAISY Award. As a nurse in the Women’s and Children’s Center, she cares for laboring patients, post-partum women, newborns and other pediatric patients. Hubbs is holding the DAISY Award surrounded by her co-workers. 

Avera Sacred Heart Hospital is pleased to announce that Carissa Hubbs, 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.

Hubbs began working on the Avera Sacred Heart Hospital Medical/Surgical Floor in 2014 and then took a position in the Women’s and Children’s Center in 2015. In this role, she cares for laboring patients, post-partum women, newborns and other pediatric patients.

Hubbs was the labor and delivery, as well as postpartum, nurse for the mother who nominated her. During a difficult birthing process that did not go as anticipated, “Carissa was just the extra support I needed at that time. … She was compassionate and understanding to my feelings and supportive in helping me accept the new plan of care. She did all of this while still making sure all of the necessary cares for the new plan of care were completed.”

After a c-section, Hubbs became the patient’s post-anesthesia care unit/postpartum nurse.

“She helped manage my post-surgery nausea, pain and dizziness,” the patient wrote. “I was anxiously waiting to feel better so I could see and finally snuggle my baby girl. Carissa helped get me feeling good enough for snuggles with my baby when I was told that Baby Girl was having a difficult time transitioning and was now requiring extra help in the special care nursery.”

Unfortunately, the baby required a higher level of care and had to be transferred to another location where she started having more complications. Though the mother was due to stay another night at Avera Sacred Heart Hospital, it was decided she would be released early so she could attend to her baby.

“Carissa went above and beyond for all of my ever-changing needs for my entire length of stay,” the patient stated. “When everything kept going wrong, she was a constant support to me that gave me some calm amongst the chaos. The hugs and tears we shared at my abrupt discharge will forever be a part of my story.”

Hubbs said she considers meeting someone where they are and caring for them in their best and worst moments a natural part of the nursing profession.

“So much is out of our control when it comes to labor and birthing babies, and sometimes the plan we want for ourselves isn't the plan that works out,” she stated. “I want my patients to feel safe and supported always, and showing compassion and empathy is a huge way to do that. The highs should be celebrated, and the lows should be acknowledged, too. It's empowering to know you're not alone when things feel out of control and that, ultimately, is what I strive to do as a nurse – be calm and hold space for the moment, while making my patient feel safe, informed and empowered.”

The nurse she is today reflects all the nurses, aides and patients she has worked with and cared for over the years, Hubbs said. 

“I want to walk out of work feeling like I made a positive impact with my patients for the shift,” Hubbs said. “The recognition of this DAISY award means I was able to support my patient in a way that she felt cared for and safe. When her birth experience went very differently than her previous ones, I wanted her to know her feelings were valid and still tried to meet as many of her birth goals as possible. Discharging early after major surgery is extremely selfless, and I wanted my patient to still have a good recovery while she was caring for her baby. A ‘thank you’ from patients always makes you feel like you came through, and the DAISY Award is really the biggest thank you.”

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.