Excerpt from oncology nurse, Tracy Smaron’s DAISY Award presentation given by Mike Cavacos, Methodist Medical Center’s Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer.

Today we are here to recognize Tracy Smaron as our latest DAISY award nominee.  The DAISY award recognizes nurses who provide extraordinary care and for those who might not be familiar, it is an international nurse recognition program that celebrates the compassion and skills nurses bring to patients and families every day.

Commitment to Compassion

Before I read the nomination that led to Tracy’s selection, let me start by saying, these types of recognition events are the absolute highlight of my job.  To hear from patients and their family members about the impact of your care is truly rewarding because I know the challenges each of you face each day to make that happen.  And certainly, one of the biggest challenges any of us has had to face this year – frankly in our entire careers – has been the COVID pandemic.  And while it had impacted how we might have to deliver care, it has only strengthened how we deliver compassion.  

And that’s what we’re here today to highlight – compassion and the connection each nurse has to her patients and their family members. 

Let me read the nomination for Tracy ….

She is a Precious Angel

I wanted to extend my deep appreciation for the care that my mother had in her last days.  She was a patient during COVID when there were no visitors allowed.  She was 96 years old and her health declined quickly but she was alert and knew what was going on.  The nurse assigned to her was Tracy Smaron, RN and she was AMAZING.  I know my mother was not the only one Tracy was taking care of, but boy it seemed that she way.  She was so nice to our family on the phone, keeping us updated every two hours.  She explained the dying process to me and I felt that my mom could not be in any place better in her last days.  Tracy took care of her for three days and I was so comforted by that.  Tracy educated me on her medication, the side effects and what she was giving her to make her comfortable.  She educated me on the reason for no visitors due to COVID.   I was going through cancer myself and she talked to me about my lung cancer and that I needed to take care of myself while they were caring for my mother. 

It’s taken me a while to sit and write this letter due to the grief process of losing her.  Tracy told me that she had been a nurse for 34 years and that she loved being a nurse and that she would take excellent care of my mother – and that comforted me so much.  You don’t see many caring people like this anymore, especially during such terrible times.  She went above and beyond and even sent me three books in the mail about death and dying and after care grief.  That’s what I have hung on to during these last months. 

During one of our talks Tracy told me about the butterfly that was on my mother’s door – something I never got to see in person.  She explained to me that she was educating me on the phone just like she would educate me if I was in the room with her.  That butterfly was in the package she sent with the books – and I will cherish it FOREVER.   I’m in my last stages of lung cancer now and I just pray that I can have a nurse like Tracy – she is a precious Angel.

Wow, just wow.  Tracy, you embody every trait of an OUTSTANDING nurse and it is my honor to present this award to you.  Thank you for the inspiring difference you make every day!

The Why Behind the DAISY

An acronym for Diseases Attacking the Immune SYstem, The DAISY Foundation was formed in November, 1999, by the family of J. Patrick Barnes who died at age 33 of complications of Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (ITP). The nursing care Patrick received when hospitalized profoundly touched his family.  Read more about why they started The DAISY Foundation.

To nominate a nurse at Methodist Medical Center, click here.