‘Exactly What Our Team Needs:’ DAISY Award Winning Nurse

Contributed. Left to right: Deana Kearns, Jessica Maloy, Angie Stone, Brittany High, Jacklynn Lesniak.

PINEHURST, N.C. – FirstHealth of the Carolinas nurse Brittany High, R.N., was recognized with the DAISY Award for June 2021. 

High, who works in the Intermediate Surgical Unit, was nominated by a coworker. 

“This past week there was an emergency with a patient in our cardiac unit, and the entire staff including respiratory therapy and the certified nursing assistants were all helping in various ways,” the coworker wrote. 

“Brittany came over and asked what she could do to help. She was calling blood bank, pulling medications, and getting supplies from our supply room. At the same time, a patient was being transferred to another facility via helicopter and Brittany helped facilitate getting the proper paperwork filled out and printed. She was also answering the unit phone while she was covering. The nurses were blown away and extremely appreciative.” 

The coworker said High went above and beyond. 

“Her initiative and drive should be commended, and she deserves to be recognized for her exemplary behavior. She is exactly what our team needs right now and will make our program stronger,” they wrote in their nomination. 

Jessica Maloy, BSN, R.N., CCRN-CSC, High’s manager, said she is committed to quality patient care. 

“Brittany is an excellent patient advocate, ensuring that all the patients in ISU and other units receive the care they need. Brittany is a very hard worker and extremely intelligent. She hit the ground running her first day in ISU and has not slowed down at all,” Maloy said. “She has the critical thinking and problem-solving skills of a nurse with much more experience. FirstHealth’s patients are better served with Brittany working on our unit.”

The DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses was established by the Daisy Foundation, a not-for-profit, based in Glen Ellen, Calif. The foundation was started by family members in memory of J. Patrick Barnes, who died at the age of 33 from complications of Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura, a little known but not uncommon auto-immune disease. 

The care Barnes and his family received from nurses inspired this unique means of thanking nurses for making a profound difference in the lives of their patients and patients’ families. Today, there are more than 2,800 health care facilities in all 50 states and 17 other countries honoring their nurses with the DAISY Award. 

FirstHealth of the Carolinas, which includes Moore Regional Hospital, Moore Regional Hospital – Richmond, Moore Regional Hospital – Hoke and Montgomery Memorial Hospital, recognizes an extraordinary nurse each month and has since 2014. For more information on the DAISY Award, or to nominate a deserving nurse, visit FirstHealth’s website.