Nurse Makes an Impression Through Compassion, Bedside Card

The card that Kylee Davis, RN, gave to a patient at Atrium Health Floyd Medical Center left an impression. The patient, who was also an Atrium Health Floyd teammate, was scared. Davis made her feel better.

“When I was admitted to the hospital in March, I was extremely frightened and afraid because I had never been that sick before. Even as a hospital employee, I was not myself,” the patient wrote in nominating Davis for a DAISY Award. “This nurse was so calming and so kind to me.

“Kylee left me a “homemade” card on my nightstand that was such a wow moment for me. The fact that she took the time to make me a card was touching. I will always keep and cherish my card. I thank God for people like this nurse who go out of their way to make a difference.”

As a result, Davis received the DAISY Award Wednesday during an impromptu ceremony on the fifth floor of the hospital. The international award is given to bedside nurses for the care they provide.

The family of Patrick Barnes established award after Barnes died from an auto-immune disease while being treated in a Seattle hospital.

Sheila Bennett, senior vice and chief of patient services at Atrium Health Floyd, presented Davis with a DAISY pin and a sculpture entitled “A Healer’s Touch.” Members of the Shona Tribe in Zimbabwe hand-carve the sculptures.

“That’s what we do. We make that human connection, and we make people feel comfortable,” Bennett said about Davis’ compassion.

“It was just some well-wishes, and I left her a little Bible verse because we had bonded over the fact that we had shared faith,” said Davis, a Rockmart High School graduate who has worked at Floyd for a little more than a year. “We had really bonded over the last few days I had been with her.”

The nurse and her teammates were also treated with cinnamon buns, a DAISY tradition because it was one of the few things Patrick Barnes could eat while he was hospitalized.