Dawnell Keeler Honored With DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses
A 'champion' who treats her patients like family
Dawnell Keeler, RN, on 7E, a spine and surgical unit at Christiana Hospital, has received the DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses.
ChristianaCare DAISY Award recipients are nurses recognized for meeting and exceeding the needs and expectations of patients and families by displaying exceptional clinical skills, compassion, calm, respect and partnership.
Keeler was nominated by a grateful patient who had been in and out of the hospital and was currently facing a potentially life-threatening complication. She also was experiencing pain at a level she had not felt before.
“Dawnell was not only my champion, but she was family when my actual family had to work, while I was in the hospital alone and scared,” her nominator wrote.
“On my first day meeting Dawnell, she walked in and just took over,” the nominator said. “Something told me she ‘had me’ and was going to make things better. She took the time to go over my medical history to get a better understanding of my issues rather than make me recite everything with the pain I was in.
“Dawnell is special. Everyone asks me how I made it this far and the answer is nurses like Dawnell who carried me when I was too weak to hold myself. She is a nurse, advocate and a voice for her patients. She made me feel like a friend and less alone,” wrote her nominator.
The Professional Nurse Council at ChristianaCare selects DAISY Award recipients using an anonymous selection process based on nominations from patients, families and all members of the ChristianaCare team. All nurses — inpatient, outpatient and ChristianaCare HomeHealth — are eligible.
