Everyone has a story to tell. And through special programs at Pennsylvania Psychiatric Institute (PPI), inpatients are getting to tell stories about the outstanding care they receive from the nursing and non-nursing staff.
Over the past several years, PPI has rolled out two programs that collect patient stories about the wonderful care they receive.
The DAISY Program is a national award for nurses started by the family of Patrick Barnes who died of a rare disease but received outstanding care from his nurses. The BEE Program is for non-nursing staff such as technicians, social workers, care coordinators, therapist and even physicians.
“We know our staff does a tremendous job, but we don’t know everything that they do that they do for patients,” said Theresa Terry-Williams, Chief Nursing Officer. “It’s nice to have the patients tell their stories and how our staff impacted their lives.”
The DAISY and BEE Awards
The Pennsylvania Psychiatric Institute started participating in the national DAISY Program in 2016 to recognize its nurses. “We know that our nurses are doing wonderful things each day and this gives patients the opportunity to tell their stories – how much a nurse has impacted their life while hospitalized at PPI,” explained Terry-Williams.
That program was such a success, PPI also wanted to recognize non-nursing staff and created the BEE Award – Be Extraordinary Every day. “We call it the BEE Award because just like a daisy can’t survive without bee pollination, nurses can’t survive without their support team,” Terry-Williams said.
Gathering Patient Stories
The nominations come from patients, family and even other staff.
“The reaction has been very positive – we receive 100 nominations some quarters. It means a lot when the patients take the time to submit a nomination,” said Terry-Williams. “You know they must be very appreciative to take the time to tell their story.”
Each quarter, the nominations have identifying information removed and are graded based on several criteria, including compassion, trustworthiness, collaboration/teamwork, honesty and love. The nomination earning the most points wins the award.
The Pennsylvania Psychiatric Institute then holds a celebration for the entire staff. There, all the nominations are read aloud, saving the winning nominations until the last. Sometimes the patient or person who wrote the winning nomination reads it out loud.
“People are usually in tears – our patients can be very passionate when they tell their story,” Terry-Williams noted.
The winners get a statue, a pin and a certificate. Their picture is also posted in the hospital with the nominating story.
“Our staff works very hard every day, and we want people to know that we respect what they do and we want to recognize the hard work and say ”˜Thank you for what you are doing here and the way you support our patients through this crisis period in their life,'” noted Terry-Williams. “This is not something everyone can do. It takes a special kind of person.”
“When she walks onto the unit, into the nursing station or in a client’s room, it feels like a candled has entered the darkness.”
“Jeff was exemplary in his ability to see beyond what the client presented to truly meet the client’s needs.”