St. Peter’s Hospital Honors Exceptional Nurse Paula Romeo

On October 30, the Recruitment and Retention Nursing Council at St. Peter’s Hospital proudly hosted its quarterly DAISY Award Ceremony in recognition of extraordinary nurses. Congratulations to this quarter’s winner, Paula Romeo (CVICU), and to all of the nominees!

Romeo received two nominations for her outstanding care, including one from a former patient who spent three weeks in the CVICU. His medical odyssey included stents, a dissected aorta, and a coma. Throughout all of this, the patient stated Romeo remained “incredibly energetic, vigilant, patient, and compassionate.”

The daughter of another CVICU patient nominated Romeo for the award, praising her for handling her elderly mother with skill, compassion, kindness, and gentle strength. Of Romeo she wrote, “She is not just mom’s nurse, she is a nurse for our whole family. She listens, consoles, explains, quiets our fears, laughs with us, celebrates Mom’s gains, and encourages us through the setbacks.”

DAISY is an acronym for Diseases Attacking the Immune System. The family of Patrick Barnes, who died at age 33 of complications of Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (ITP), created the DAISY Award to honor his memory and recognize the healing work of the nurses who had cared for him and continue to care for patients everywhere. The DAISY Award has been adopted by health care facilities across the United States, and is now part of the culture of St. Peter’s Hospital.

There are more than 2,000 health care facilities in all 50 states and 14 other countries, committed to honoring nurses with The DAISY Award.