Cora Goss, a registered nurse and case manager at St. Mary’s Good Samaritan Hospital, recently received the hospital’s DAISY Award for Nursing Excellence. She was nominated by a patient who needed help navigating a complicated insurance situation and returning home.
“She went above and beyond to work with me and help me get set up after discharge,” the patient wrote in his nomination. However, when Goss received no response after referring his case to his primary insurer, he added, “She was determined to find a solution. She was able to run with everything and clarify Medicare coverage, and set me up with home visits to the house to help with treatment.”
Still, Goss didn’t stop there. “Because of Cora, I was able to get an assistive device – I call it my ‘four-wheel motorcycle’ – and I was able to get back to my family equipped with the tools and assistance I needed,” he wrote. “Her dedication, thoughtfulness, and attention left a lasting impression.”
At St. Mary’s Good Samaritan Hospital, each DAISY Award recipient is recognized at a public ceremony with their colleagues. They receive a certificate, a DAISY Award pin, and a stone sculpture called “A Healer’s Touch,” hand-carved by sculptors in Zimbabwe.
“I can think of no nurse more deserving than Cora for this special recognition,” said Todd Braswell, associate chief nursing officer for St. Mary’s Health Care System and head of nursing at St. Mary’s Good Samaritan Hospital.
A nurse for nearly seven years, Goss lives in Eatonton and has been in her current role at St. Mary’s Good Samaritan Hospital for five years.
“Cora really made a special connection with this patient,” Braswell added. “Those of us who work with Cora can attest that this is the level of compassion and commitment she delivers to every patient she encounters every single day. We are truly blessed to have Cora as a key member of the Good Sam family.”
The DAISY Award is an international recognition program that celebrates the skillful and compassionate care nurses provide daily. It was created in gratitude for the nurses who provided care to Patrick Barnes, a 33-year-old husband and father who lost his fight against a deadly autoimmune disease in 1999. DAISY is an acronym for Diseases Attacking the Immune SYstem.
Barnes’ family created the DAISY Foundation (daisyfoundation. org), which now partners with more than 7,600 healthcare organizations and nursing schools in all 50 states and around the world to honor and inspire extraordinary nurses.
— Contributed