Hospice Nurse Given DAISY Award
Monday, November 18th, 2019
A nurse with Heyman HospiceCare at Floyd will forever be remembered by a family for her tender care and compassion during a week that saw them say farewell to two loved ones.
A family member describes Terra Jones, the latest DAISY Award recipient, as a "beautiful, angelic nurse."
The DAISY award, which is recognized internationally, was established by the family of Patrick Barnes after he died from an auto-immune disease while being treated in a Seattle hospital. His family was thankful for the care he received and created the award to thank bedside nurses for the job they do. The family came up with DAISY– an acronym for Diseases Attacking the Immune System.
Jones formed an instant bond with her father the first day she visited him at their home, his daughter said. When Jones learned her new patient was a football fan, they shared team facts and football history. The patient's daughter said Jones showed her father respect for what he knew and built a bridge of trust between them.
"We had never seen our dad sick, so all of this was new and very scary to us," said the patient's daughter. "Terra was always patient and reassuring of our doubts."
Jones also coached the patient's wife to talk to her husband, sharing all that he needed to hear and all that was on her heart.
“Mom did just that. What a beautiful farewell message she spoke. It was funny, yet sweet and unforgettable,” the daughter said. “She told him how much she loved him and yet she was mad at him for going first; but for him to on ahead, meet Jesus, and watch for her because she would be coming soon. 'It won’t be long,' she firmly stated, 'I am right behind you.'"
The day after her patient died, his wife fell and hit her head, sustaining a massive brain bleed. She also became a Heyman HospiceCare patient. Jones visited the family in the hospital, this time not as a nurse, but as a friend, and the gentleman's wife fulfilled her promise to her husband, passing just one week after her husband.
"To our family, Terra was not just a nurse, a medical professional, or a family advocate. We were not just another family with a dying loved one. We were people in need and she was our angel. Our vessel of mercy," the patient's daughter said. "She was our DAISY."
Along with a DAISY pin, Jones was also presented with a sculpture entitled A Healer’s Touch. Each piece is hand-carved for the DAISY Foundation by an artist of the Shona Tribe in Zimbabwe.
