Two nurses honored with DAISY Award® by Mather Hospital
Patricia Alban, RN and Erin Dawson, RN were recently honored by Mather Hospital in Port Jefferson as the recipients of the Extraordinary Nurse Educator DAISY Award®.
The DAISY Award® is a special honor given to extraordinary nurses for the compassionate contributions they make every day going above and beyond expectations in science and sensitivity.
Patricia Alban, RN has been a key leader in Clinical Professional Development at Mather as the site coordinator for the Nurse Residency Program. She is also instrumental in her role as a clinical educator for 3 East Telemetry, coverage for the Emergency Department and assisting Clinical Professional Development in educational programs. She is an instructor for the Community Training Center for Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support, Basic Life Support, and Pediatric Advanced Life Support, has volunteered her time to teach hands-only CPR in the community, and has maintained three professional nursing certifications.
The nomination for her read in part, “Pat promotes resilience and quality, patient and staff safety, and maintains management of human and fiscal resources, while always supporting team members through challenges with compassion and humanity.”
Ms. Alban also demonstrates acts of caring and compassion every day to the patients on the 3 East patient unit and throughout the organization. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she readily changed her shift to meet the needs of the organization and supported the clinical staff on the night shift. She has twice been nominated as Nurse Educator of the Year. Last year, she participated in the writing of six abstracts for submission to national conferences. As the Site Coordinator for the Nurse Residency Program, she holds monthly meetings with the new graduates to continue to develop their professional practice, while also encouraging their peer development and relationship building. She is a team builder.
She is a primary instructor for Mather Hospital’s Certified Nursing Assistant Training Program. Her excellent clinical and communication skills help to ensure the students meet program goals and achieve success, not only at the end of the program, but also after they begin their new roles.
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Recognized for the care and kindness she showed to a patient on her unit, Erin Dawson, RN, of 2 South is also Mather Hospital’s DAISY Award® winner.
Erin was nominated by a family member of a cancer patient who was struck by her dedication and compassion and called her “gentle, thoughtful, and thorough.”
“She explains everything she is doing and why. She has a calm bedside manner and has truly been so very kind to my mother and family during this scary time. My mom had not eaten properly in weeks and Erin went out of her way in the middle of the night to hunt down tomato soup. She would also close doors to decrease noise and avoided using lights when she could, so my mom was even a little more
comfortable. She checked on my mom over and over and was patient while doing so; always checking to
see whether she needed ice chips or nausea meds. Every interaction was approached with respect and
sincerity.”
“My mom has been through so much pain and discomfort during this time and Erin truly treated her with compassion. I am blessed to have had her watching over my mom during this difficult time.”
The DAISY (Diseases Attacking the Immune System) Award® was established by the family of J. Patrick Barnes who died of complications from an autoimmune disease at the age of 33. During Pat’s hospitalization, his family was awestruck by the care and compassion his nurses provided for him and everyone in his family.
