Matt Hall, RN, at Baptist DeSoto was recently recognized with the DAISY Award.
Matt, a nurse in the Baptist DeSoto float pool, was nominated by a patient’s sister for lifting their family’s spirits through laughter and talking about Jesus.
“My husband and I weren’t able to attend our church services, but Matt surprised us with a word from God, and he prayed with us for my family,” said the patient’s sister. “He is such a pleasant person, and Baptist should be proud to have him on their team.”
When the Kaczmarek family faced a stage IV lung cancer diagnosis for their father, they found themselves at NEA Baptist Hospital, where they met Angela Davis BSN, RN, who works on 5 West. The cancer had spread to the patient’s bones, and the family spent a week at NEA.
“We met Angie the very first day we were at NEA Baptist Hospital and immediately fell in love with her; she was so good with my Dad. My Dad hated being sick, medicine, needles and most of all, hospitals. She was patient and kind to him. Outside of our Dad’s room, she explained what was happening and what was going to happen to my Dad.”
Her father developed a sense of trust with Angie, asking for her often.“I would like everyone to know how thankful the Kaczmarek family is that Angie was there for us and our Dad throughout his last days. I felt better when she was with him because I knew he was in good hands.”
When nurse Shelitha Anglade at Baptist Memphis met her new heart patient, an elderly gentlemen, she also found his wife in the room—in the patient bed. Suffering from advanced dementia, the wife had no other caregiver than her husband, so he brought her to the hospital as well. He agreed to hospitalization only if the wife could stay. Shelitha noticed the wife had soiled herself while in the wheelchair. Not wanting the patient to exert himself, she cleaned up his wife.
“I could not just walk away knowing she was soiled and he had no help.”
When her manager, Toya Pittman, heard the story later, she said, “Above and beyond is an understatement for Shelitha. He was able to have his procedure the following day, and he hired a sitter for his wife while he was gone.”