Southwestern Recognizes DAISY Award Recipient Tabitha Nandico Spataro, RN
The DAISY Award is an international program that rewards and celebrates the extraordinary, compassionate and skillful care given by nurses every day. CTCA at Southwestern is proud to be a DAISY Award Partner, recognizing one of our nurses with this special honor quarterly.
From January to March, Southwestern Stakeholders, patients and caregivers submitted nominations for our third DAISY Award and on Thursday, March 23, Southwestern recognized Tabitha Nandico Spataro in infusion, whose nomination was submitted by a caregiver whose daughter is a currently treating patient.
“Tabitha shows those qualities that make a Registered Nurse both forceful and effective. As far as I’m concerned, she produces beyond normal expectations. It is evident that her going to work is not for a paycheck, but she truly cares about her patients and their family. She makes it a point to know everything about her patients – she was aware that my daughter had, in the past, symptoms of restless leg syndrome during chemotherapy, so she checked frequently to see if she was experiencing the symptoms. She also checked to see if we were warm and comfortable and I rarely noticed her sitting. Every time I would leave my daughter’s room Tabitha was constantly tending to her patients.
Tabitha is not just a nurse, she is like a good friend or family member to her patients. She definitely has all the skills needed to maintain the highest standards of professional excellence and I’ve never seen a nurse like her! She is so empathetic when it comes to her patients and their family and she works diligently to meet their needs in every way. God bless the person who hired her!”
Thank you, Tabitha, For the extraordinary car you provide to our patients and caregivers every day and for the exemplifying the Mother Standard of care.
CTCA encourages all employees to go above and beyond for their patients and in the community. The hospital’s founder and chairman, Richard J Stephenson, created the medical centers to care for every aspect of the patient, calling this the “Mother Standard.” Recently, Stephenson was recognized for his integrated care philosophy, focus on education and philanthropic initiatives with the 2017 Horatio Alger Award. Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans, Inc., a nonprofit educational organization honoring the achievements of outstanding individuals and encouraging youth to pursue their dreams through higher education, announced from Washington, D.C. that Stephenson will receive this unique North American recognition for his commitment to higher education and charitable efforts in his local communities.
ABOUT TABITHA: Tabitha Spataro, RN with Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA) was a recent winner of the DAISY Award. Spataro was nominated by a caregiver whose daughter was being treated at CTCA. Sparato has been in the nursing field for six years and at CTCA for about 1.5 years.
When asked what inspired her to become a nurse, she shared: “I had some health issues growing up, and part of the reason I became a RN was to make sure patients had a good nurse. I promised myself I would be the best nurse I could be for my patients. The other part, and honestly the biggest part, was God called me to be a nurse…and I answered.”
She received her nursing degree from Northeaster A&M College at the age of 20. She graduated from high school and started college at the age of 16! In her spare time, she participates in mission trips to Honduras. She is fluent in American Sign Language and is a former ASL interpreter. Of her award and career at CTCA, Sparato added, “I honestly feel so blessed to have been given the opportunities I have been given in life, and to be a part of the CTCA family. I love our patients and our infusion team, they are truly family to me.”
