AdventHealth Fish Memorial Recognizes Nurse Kerry Putegnat with DAISY Award

ORANGE CITY, Fla., May 2, 2019 – AdventHealth Fish Memorial recognized registered nurse Kerry Putegnat with the DAISY award.

The DAISY Award is an international program that rewards and celebrates extraordinary clinical skill and compassionate care provided by nurses.

Putegnat is a nurse manager in the intensive care unit and was nominated for this recognition by a colleague at AdventHealth Fish Memorial for the care she provided a patient with a terminal diagnosis and her family.

“The patient was in her 30’s and was a single mother to two young daughters. On the day of her passing, Kerry contacted the family, urging them to come quickly,” the colleague wrote in a nomination for Putegnat. “As the patient faded off, this nurse recited a poem to the patient’s parents. Her grieving father found peace and the ability to let his daughter go by the words in the poem.”

Putegnat also arranged time for the children to have final moments with their mother.

“Kerry purchased two special containers with ribbon from the gift shop so that the girls would each have a lock of their mothers’ hair, a piece of her forever. Kerry took a horrible situation and transformed it into beautiful ending for the family,” the nomination continued. “Kerry cared so deeply that she took time away from her own family over the weekend to attend the funeral, gifting the former patient’s father with a framed copy of the poem that brought him so much peace at the time of her death.”

“These are just a couple of the many acts of love, kindness, and selflessness Kerry delivers in her daily work, not only for the patients, but also to her staff and coworkers,” the nomination continued. “She is the epitome of an extraordinary nurse.”

Created in 1999, more than 2,500 healthcare facilities in all 50 states, as well as 15 other countries, use the DAISY Award to honor nurses.

In recognition of this honor, Putegnat received a bouquet of daisies, a certificate, a tote bag, and a hand-carved stone sculpture of the “Healer’s Touch” by an artist of the Shona Tribe in Zimbabwe.

Her unit, the AdventHealth Fish Memorial intensive care unit, also received cinnamon rolls and a DAISY banner to display.

About AdventHealth Fish Memorial
AdventHealth Fish Memorial in Orange City has 175-beds and is one of the six hospitals in Flagler, Lake and Volusia counties that composes the AdventHealth Central Florida Division - North Region. Formerly known as Florida Hospital Fish Memorial, the organization’s parent company changed the name of all wholly-owned entities to AdventHealth on Jan. 2, 2019. Based in Altamonte Springs, AdventHealth is a connected system of care. With more than 80,000 team members, AdventHealth is one of the nation’s largest faith-based health care systems with nearly 50 hospitals and hundreds of care sites in nearly a dozen states. With the mission of Extending the Healing Ministry of Christ, AdventHealth Fish Memorial provides whole person care to heal the body, mind and spirit. For more information about AdventHealth Fish Memorial, visit http://AdventHealthFishMemorial.com.

Photo Caption:
Kerry Putegnat, nurse manager in the intensive care unit at AdventHealth Fish Memorial, received the DAISY award, an international program that rewards and celebrates extraordinary clinical skill and compassionate care provided by nurses. Front row from left to right: Lisa Barrow, Kerry Putegnat, Michele Johnson, Mary Alford, and Samantha Bobini. Back row from left to right: John Lazarus, Monique Pettigrew, Saliconte Charles, Haley Hohnhorst, Joe-Ryan Libanan, and Justina Payano.