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ICU Nurse Recognized for Compassionate Communication
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ICU Nurse Recognized for Compassionate Communication

10.03.2022

Chanda Wood Earns September DAISY Award

ROME, Ga., Oct. 3, 2022 Sometimes, it's the compassion a nurse shows that is remembered most by patients and family members.

“I have had many members of my family in a hospital. Most times the nurse treated them like it was just a job, but Chanda Wood actually showed compassion that my aunt and I needed."

Those words were used to nominate Wood for a DAISY Award, which she was given Friday, Sept. 30, in a ceremony in the ICU at Atrium Health Floyd Medical Center. Wood, a registered nurse, has been a teammate at the hospital since August 2009.

“While in ICU with my aunt, I was there sometimes seven hours before leaving for a bit and coming back," wrote the woman who nominated Wood. “I am 61 years old, and I have NEVER seen a nurse these days going 100 miles an hour constantly. She took time to come talk with me honestly and showed me understanding and compassion….

“When another decision needed to be made again, she took the time to squat down so she could look me in the face because I was sitting and explained the pros and cons. She is one of the BEST nurses I have come across…. whether she wins or not she is true a Florence Nightingale!!!!!!!!!"

Wood said her interest in becoming a nurse was fueled in part by her experience as her dad was diagnosed and treated for pancreatic cancer.

“Seeing the way they were able to help care for him, all the way from diagnosis to hospice, gave me the idea that I might want to venture out and help others in the way they helped him," Wood said. “It's an honor to be able to have someone recognize you and see that you impacted someone else and their loved ones in a positive way."

The DAISY Award is an international program that recognizes bedside nurses for the exceptional care they provide patients. The award was established by the family of Patrick Barnes after he died from an auto-immune disease while being treated in a Seattle hospital. DAISY is an acronym for Diseases Attacking the Immune System. The Barnes family was thankful for the care he received and created the award to thank bedside nurses for the job they do.

Wood was also presented with a sculpture called A Healer's Touch. Each piece is hand-carved for the DAISY Foundation by members of the Shona Tribe in Zimbabwe.

 

About Atrium Health Floyd
Since 1942, Floyd, now Atrium Health Floyd, has worked to provide affordable, accessible care in northwest Georgia and northeast Alabama. Today, Atrium Health Floyd is a leading medical provider and economic force. As part of the largest, integrated, nonprofit health system in the southeast, it is also able to tap into some of the nation's leading medical experts and specialists with Atrium Health, allowing it to provide the best care close to home – including advanced innovations in virtual medicine and care. At the hub of these services is Atrium Health Floyd Medical Center, a 304-bed full-service, acute care hospital and regional referral center. Atrium Health Floyd employs more than 3,400 teammates who provide care in over 40 medical specialties at three hospitals: Atrium Health Floyd Medical Center in Rome, Georgia; Atrium Health Floyd Cherokee Medical Center in Centre, Alabama; Atrium Health Floyd Polk Medical Center in Cedartown, Georgia, as well as Atrium Health Floyd Medical Center Behavioral Health, a freestanding 53-bed behavioral health