Taylor Hinojosa was awarded recently the DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses at East Georgia Regional Medical Center. An LPN, Hinojosa began her nursing career at EGRMC in August 2020.
Jamie Riggs, director of Marketing at EGRMC, said, “It has been rare for patients to be present at an award ceremony for our Daisy Award recipients but Craig Winkler wanted to make sure that Taylor saw that he was getting better every day because of her and her wonderful team of colleagues at EGRMC.”
“We encountered so many special nurses during my husband’s 17 day stay, but Taylor really stood out with her willingness to tackle whatever problem or circumstance came up,” said Judy Winkler. “Every time whether it was she and her colleague teaming up to give him a bath, or quieting the machines so very quickly so as not to wake us up, she cared even if she wasn't the nurse assigned to our room. My husband said she would relax him just by her presence whenever she came around.”
Hinojosa received multiple nominations for the award, and the following are some of the excerpts written about her.
“I was admitted to the hospital and my family lives out of state. I was alone. Even though the staff was so kind, I felt like I could write a book about them, I felt compelled to bring Taylor to attention. I prefer to pay attention to staff when they think that I am not.
“Taylor is very attentive and personable. Just by interacting with Taylor, she made me forget that I was alone and scared. When seeing her zipping around helping other patients, it was easy to see that trait came naturally. She is an amazing example of the staff of EGRMC. Coming in contact with her made my healing process easier.
“She even reached out to my family to keep them updated without me asking her. She was so accepting, gentle and goes over and beyond with her job duties. More people like her are needed in the medical field. Thank you, Taylor.”
“Having Taylor on our nursing team is a blessing,” said Marie Burdett, MSN, RN, chief nursing officer at East Georgia Regional. “Taylor nurses with a compassionate and attentive, caring spirit and is well-deserving of this award for extraordinary nurses."
“We are proud to be among the hospital systems participating in The DAISY Award program,” said Stephen Pennington, CEO of East Georgia Regional Medical Center. “Nurses are heroes every day. It’s important that our nurses know their work is highly valued, and The DAISY Foundation provides another way for us to do that. “We are pleased to honor Taylor with this award, and we thank her for the safe, compassionate care she gives to all of her patients at EGRMC.”
The DAISY Foundation is a not-for-profit organization, established in memory of Patrick Barnes, by members of his family. Patrick died at 33 from complications of an auto-immune disease. DAISY is an acronym for “Diseases Attacking the Immune System.”
The care Barnes and his family received from nurses while he was ill inspired the founding of the award to thanknurses for making a profound difference in the lives of their patients and patient families.
Patients, visitors, nurses, physicians and employees may nominate a deserving nurse by completing a nomination at www.east georgiaregional.com/daisy-award-nomina tions.
To learn more about the DAISY Foundation, visit daisyfoundation.org.