A Spartanburg Medical Center nurse, Claire Sellars, RN, was honored with the DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses in September. Nurses can be nominated by patients, families and colleagues.

Below is a description of her good work as witnessed by her co-workers:

Recently on 5 Heart we had an emotional patient from New York with a complex history.

The patient was taken from New York in a RV, with no stops for food or pain medicine, to Pelham Medical Center. The patient was transferred to Spartanburg Medical Center. The patient had brain and liver cancer and was in extreme pain. When the patient arrived to 5 Heart, Claire Sellers, RN, sat in the patient's room and rubbed her head to calm her down and ease her pain.

Claire cared for this patient for three straight days and became familiar with the patient's needs. She began to advocate for the patient's comfort. Claire went above and beyond the call of duty because, even though she thought the patient needed comfort care and non-invasive treatment, she maintained her professionalism and provided the care the patient's family requested.

Claire involved palliative care and advanced care planning in order to provide the patient with the best possible care. Claire also had other patients, but she went above and beyond to create a calming and relaxing space for this patient. Claire proved she was the patient's advocate, when she supported the patient's needs when the family members' wishes were different than hers. This was hard, but she handled it professionally and put the patient first.

Advocating for the patient, Claire contacted palliative care and advanced care planning so the patient's wished could be honored.

Congratulations to our September DAISY Winner, Claire Sellers!

About the DAISY Foundation

This is one initiative of The DAISY Foundation in service to the nursing profession.  Additionally, DAISY offers J. Patrick Barnes Grants for Nursing Research and Evidence-Based Practice Projects, The DAISY Faculty Award to honor inspiring faculty members in schools and colleges of nursing, and The DAISY in Training Award for nursing students. More information is available at http://DAISYfoundation.org.