Amethyst Guardado, RN.(photo by Susan Urmy)
Amythyst Guardado, RN, works in the Pulmonary Stepdown unit at Vanderbilt University Hospital. She is one of the latest Vanderbilt Health DAISY Award winners.
From the nomination
“My husband had been in four hospitals before our stay at Vanderbilt Health. A chemical at work caused an inflammatory reaction to his lung and he had fungal spores already in his lungs. The inflammation caused his fungal infection to take over his lungs. We were told he needed a double lung transplant and moved to Vanderbilt to start the process. We have had some amazing nurses take care of us but one really stood out to us as family.
“Amythyst came in when she was charge nurse to help with changing his bed and helping him get back in bed from the wheelchair. In just those few minutes she was here you could tell she really cared about him and talked him through everything.
“After Christmas, we had the pleasure of her being our nurse. Unfortunately, my husband started having really bad pain from a shot to help his white blood cell count, to the point of laying in bed screaming and crying. Amythyst stayed in the room with us trying anything to get him comfortable or help the pain. She was the biggest advocate for him, telling the doctors about what he was experiencing. She took the time to listen to my husband and see how she could help him. He was complaining about the packing on his bedsore, so she changed it right then and let him lay on it for a few minutes to see if she needed to do anything else. She did amazing at encouraging him to try to get in the wheelchair and telling him how proud she was of him getting up and trying this hard stuff to try and get better.
We are forever grateful for Amythyst for the time and patience she showed my husband during her time with us! She is one of our favorite nurses on this floor!”
About DAISY Awards
The DAISY Award is a recognition for extraordinary nurses who exemplify compassion toward patients and families.
Vanderbilt Health distributes the award in partnership with The DAISY Foundation, which was formed in 1999 to honor the memory of J. Patrick Barnes, a 33-year-old man who died of complications of the autoimmune disease Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (ITP). Barnes’ family was moved by the care they received from his nurses and wanted to recognize them to preserve his memory. DAISY is an acronym for Diseases Attacking the Immune System.
Vanderbilt Health nurse committees determine the individual recipients. Previous recipients of the DAISY Award are here. The award is open to all licensed nurses, and anyone can nominate — including co-workers, patients and their families.
