By David Beard
DBeard@DominionPost.com
Vandalia Health’s Mon Health Preston Memorial nurse Jessica Myers has received the DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses.
The DAISY Foundation honors nurses around the world. Preston Memorial presents a DAISY award twice a year and Myers is the sixth awardee, said Jennifer Nestor, Preston Memorial chief nursing officer.
Myers, a registered nurse in her third year at Preston Memorial, manages the Recovery Care Program, for people with substance use disorders. She was nominated for the award by a patient, Nestor said.
The nomination says that Myers always spoke to the patient with kindness and respect. “She’s always bubbly and welcoming and supportive.”
Even though Myers is busy running the recovery program, the patient said, she always spends time with each patient. Myers helped the nominating patient with medications and primary care and support all through recovery.
“Jessica is not the type of person to place judgment,” the patient said. Other medical professionals had often been judgmental; but Myers enabled the patient to be open and honest and get the needed care.
“Jessica’s personality reflects someone who is positive and uplifting,” the patient said. She takes the patient’s calls over the smallest issues and never makes the patient feel insignificant.
Nestor said the award is significant. “It’s an international award. To bring international awards to little hometowns like Kingwood, West Virginia, is very motivating.”
And about Myers, she said, “I know Jessica goes above and beyond. She really has a big heart for the care of these patients. She dedicates her own time and is always accessible to her patients.”
Myers said, “It’s an honor to receive the DAISY award. Sometimes you don’t realize how much your compassion and empathy makes an impact on your patients. So it’s very exciting to earn this award and know I made a little bit of a change in someone’s day.”
Myers, of Masontown, said she started as an LPN in 2011 and earned her RN in 2014. She previously worked at Valley Healthcare in Morgantown and still fill in there at times.
“I have a really big compassion for mental health nursing,” she said. Many people struggle with those things at some point in their lives. “It’s something I really enjoy: being there, helping people.”
She wants to thank the patient who nominated her. “I really enjoy working at Preston Memorial Hospital. … I think my team is super great. I love working alongside them and getting to witness change and growth in our patients.”
DAISY award honorees, the foundation says, receive a certificate in a DAISY portfolio, a hand-carved Healer’s Touch sculpture from Zimbabwe, an Honoree pin, a congratulations banner to hang in the unit, a copy of their nomination, a gift bag, and cinnamon rolls to share. After the presentation, the honoree is added to the DAISY website, and the nurse is then eligible for professional development, education, and wellness benefits.
Myers said she plans to look into those benefits. She wants to continue in bedside nursing and wants to earn her Master’s degree.
The DAISY Foundation was established in 1999 in Seattle by the family of J. Patrick Barnes, who died from complications of an autoimmune disease. DAISY is an acronym for Diseases Attacking the Immune SYstem.
