Goepel earns Bayhealth DAISY Award

MILFORD — Bayhealth’s Joni Goepel, a registered nurse, cares for patients at the Sussex Campus and has earned a DAISY Award for her high-quality care.

The DAISY Award is a thank-you to nurses and recognizes those who show compassion and determination through the service they provide.

The honors are given by the DAISY Foundation, formed in 2000 by the family of J. Patrick Barnes, who wanted to recognize the nurses who cared for him and all the other unsung heroes of the nursing profession.

According to her nominator, Ms. Goepel embodies the phrase, “To be seen is to be loved,” as she goes out of her way to make her patients feel understood and comfortable.

When caring for a woman who had been in the Critical Care Unit for several months, Ms. Goepel went out of her way to make her feel at ease.

Even when the patient felt lost, the nurse stepped in to make the patient feel like herself again — by doing her hair, putting on her makeup and talking with her even when the patient couldn’t communicate.

“Goepel SAW me, and helped me see myself again, and I fought because she fought with me, for me, everyday; she is my guardian angel put right where she needed to be when I needed her most. She not only saved my life, she saved me,” the patient stated upon nominating Ms. Goepel.

DAISY Award honorees are chosen by nurses, administrators, peers, physicians, volunteers, patients and families.

To nominate an individual, visit bayhealth.org/daisy.