By James Coburn, staff writer
A National DAISY award was presented recently to Arianna Story, LPN, Bellevue Health & Rehabilitation Center, located in Oklahoma City.
The DAISY Award is destined for a nurse that exceeds their normal duties in the profession and deserves special recognition. Meadows chose a blind committee to score the winner. Guests, patients, nurses, providers, families, and employees were invited to nominate a deserving nurse who make a meaningful difference in patient care.
Soon after Story’s honor was announced, a representative for the National Daisy award surprised Tamera Meadows, RN, DON, with a DAISY award for leadership. Both Meadows and Story have served at Bellevue for four years.
Meadows explained that patients expressed confidence in Story’s ability to make them cared for. One resident expressed how much of a blessing Story has been to her and her family when she showed so much empathy for the resident’s PTSD. All her peers say she works closely with them and is a team player.
Story was praised for her effective and rapid response to challenging wounds. Story is one of several nurses who are certified in wound care.
One patient and spouse wrote, “Ari shows enthusiasm for providing outstanding service and culture of excellence to patients and families alike.”
They commended Story for creating a healing environment by showing extraordinary respect to family and patients.
When it comes to leadership, Meadows always tries to keep in mind that, “This whole job is about people,” she explained. “Whether it’s the families, the staff, the patients — they are all my customers. I have to balance patient care with the needs of the staff. They (the staff) all have their own individual strengths and weaknesses. They all have their own personal issues going on. I’m a firm believer in educating and re-educating. I don’t think you can ever do enough training. And I think the other side is, you just have to be objective.”
She complimented her staff for loving new challenges that benefit patient care. The nursing staff takes pride when being introduced to a new piece of equipment to learn about, Meadows said. Bellevue has a very large skilled unit addressing the needs of 60-70 skilled patients a day.
“We’re not just nursing home nurses. We have a lot of skills for all kinds of patients,” she continued.
It takes a village to address the diverse nature of patient care while continuously reviewing best practices and advances in care. It was a perfect fit for Story after graduating from Francis Tuttle Technology Center. Bellevue has offered her four years of skilled and long-term care. THE moment of winning the DAISY award touched her life.
“I feel very grateful for being recognized this way because I do my best to take care of my patients, Story said. “I make sure everything is in order, making sure everybody’s ducks are in order. And if they’re not, I line them back up. It was really very heartwarming to know that I was acknowledged for all of that.”
Story’s first calling was to become a veterinarian. But her mom sent her through CNA classes because I wanted to learn about physiology terminology, and it would help me.”
So Story did her clinicals at a nursing home and served in memory care for five years.
“I fell in love with it. I never thought I would,” Story continued. “And then I came here.” She found her niche in the skilled unit where she occasionally has “frequent flyers.”
“When they see that I’m back on their hall and I’m their nurse, they get very excited about that. Some people will come back and request to be put on my hall. That really warms my heart, and to be acknowledged by family members and being told they appreciate me.”
Her life as a nurse has influenced her views of humanity. Story has always been a nurturer. But her approach to patient care became tenacious, Meadows said.
“I really try to take care of my people. I try to take care of my CNAs, my nurse peers, all of that stuff,” Story said.
She added that Meadows tries to make everybody feel part of a team and is the best director of nurses she has ever had.
“It’s not just one shift. It’s not just one nurse. It’s everybody,” Meadows explained. “It’s amazing how one person who is not fitting in can mess things up to meet our standard. I try to tell them you’ve got to fit our standard here. In four years, we’ve come a long way.”
