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"Nurse Sandy was an advocate for the weak, a shield for the scared, and an anchor through the storm. I could not be more thankful for the impact she had on me.”

Sandra "Sandy" Stewart, BSN, RN, Behavioral Health Inpatient Program (BHIP), UVA Health Prince William Medical Center, has been named a DAISY Award winner by the UVA Community Health Nursing Professional Governance Organization (NPGO).

This award honors outstanding and compassionate care, which a patient specifically recognized in her nomination of Stewart: “Sandy showed her love for patient care and nursing by utilizing the ASPIRE values held by UVA Health.”

‘A Special Kind of Person’

As the patient notes, “Behavioral care nursing takes a special kind of person who rarely gets the recognition they deserve. I arrived at the Emergency Department to prevent myself from ending my own life. When I was transferred to the Behavioral Health Unit and met Nurse Sandy, I knew that I was in the right place.” 

Compassionate care is essential to all nursing endeavors, but it is especially necessary during mental health crises. Recognizing this, Stewart took the time to validate and understand the patient and assure them they were not alone. “Sandy immediately showed compassion by getting everything I could possibly need to feel comfortable. She acknowledged my feelings were real and we just needed to work together to learn how to handle the emotions. She encouraged me to do things that might make me happy.”

‘The Gold Standard of Care’

Alongside providing acknowledgement and compassion, Stewart also showed kind, expert care in assisting with difficult emotions. “She developed a level of trust that I've never had with a previous caretaker. She learned about my interests and used them as conversation starters to distract me when my emotions would begin to rise.” 

When the patient experienced an emotional episode while she was not there, Stewart immediately stepped in to help. The patient reports: “She switched back to my care and advocated on my behalf. Any time Sandy was with me, I was always assured I would have the gold standard of care. During a time when I could not care for myself at all — Nurse Sandy was an advocate for the weak, a shield for the scared, and an anchor through the storm. I could not be more thankful for the impact she had on me.”

In Her Own Words: ‘Destined to Be a Nurse’

Stewart has been a nurse for 31 years — 27 of those spent with UVA Health, including 16 in BHIP. After several years of service, she continues to work toward her career goals: “My goal is to pursue a master's degree in nursing and to increase mentoring of new nurses, with emphasis on customer service, as I have always held customer service in nursing dear to my heart. This means serving patients and employees.”

These continued goals are representative of her reasons for becoming a nurse. “I've had a caring personality ever since I was young. I would be especially drawn to help older people, helping to clean their environment and ensure that they ate. At 21 years old, while pregnant with my second child, I delivered my neighbor’s baby. I felt I was destined to be a nurse from that day, and my first experiences were in the nursery, postpartum, labor and delivery, and obstetrics."

She adds, "Later on, I wanted to experience mental health nursing, which led me to be a psychiatric nurse. Both fields have been rewarding. Seeing parents welcome a new life is phenomenal, and seeing a suicidal patient being discharged with a new lease on life and the will to live is simply astounding."

Stewart says being a DAISY Award recipient gives her a sense of pride to provide "exemplary care to a patient, which in turn, allowed the patient to have a remarkable experience. I remind myself that the patient is at the center whenever I am providing care. I leave work most days feeling satisfied that I did well for my patients and that patient satisfaction was achieved. The patients’ satisfaction gives me job satisfaction." 

The DAISY Award, according to Stewart, speaks volumes to how she makes a patient feel and serves as a reminder to always put yourself in the patient’s shoes and attend to them the way in which you would like to be attended. "The other principle I use when providing care to my patients is to care for them as I would care for a family member. As I listened to my nomination being read, I had immense joy knowing that my care for this patient was so impactful that they took the time to narrate their hospital experience and highlight my care."

Stewart says earning the DAISY Award motivates her "to continue placing our patients at the center — and to endeavor to provide patients with a remarkable, personalized experience every time.”

Know a Fabulous Nurse?

"DAISY" stands for "Diseases Attacking the Immune System." The DAISY Award was established by The DAISY Foundation in memory of J. Patrick Barnes, who died at the age of only 33 of an autoimmune disease. The Barnes Family was awestruck by the clinical skills, caring, and compassion of his nurses, so they created this national award to thank nurses everywhere.

Patients or their family members; visitors; and team members can submit a nomination for a UVA Health Culpeper, Haymarket, or Prince William Medical Center nurse.