Patient: Nurse ‘Forever My Sister’
Erica Griffiths, RN, CMSRN, holds her DAISY Award. Below, Mary Ellen Beasley reads
her DAISY nomination award for Erica.
Former B3S nurse Erica Griffiths, RN, CMSRN, made Mother’s Day 2019 something special for patient Mary Ellen Beasley.
Mary had been in the hospital for a couple of days already and was facing a surgical procedure without her family at her side. Her overall nursing care had been great, but she said one nurse stood out to her – Erica.
“Erica came in with her smile after two very long 12-hour days. She smiled and said ‘Good Morning, Mary, I am with you again today,’” Mary said. “This made me feel so comforted. We went through our surgical check list and she asked me, ‘Mary, do you have any family coming for your procedure today?’ I started to cry and stated ‘no’ … Erica looked at me and said, ‘We will be your family today,’ as she reached out and held my hand. After that I was swept off to surgery.”
The Manistee-area patient said the words meant more than Erica could know with her family unable to be with her that day.
“This is one of the most touching things and it made me cry,” she said. “I definitely gained another family that day. This nurse will forever be my sister.”
Mary nominated Erica for the Daisy Award for Extraordinary Nurses that recognizes nurses around the world who offer above-and-beyond care to their patients. As part of the honor, nurses receive a certificate as well as a serpentine stone sculpture from Zimbabwe, entitled a “Healer’s Touch.”
Erica, who now works at Foster Family Health Care Center in the Pain Procedure Clinic, said the award reinforces her decision years ago to become a nurse.
“I’m very honored. I want to take care of people,” she said. “People trust me to take of them in their darkest times. I don’t take that lightly.”