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'Team Ebola' to receive DAISY award for exceptional nursing

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Janet Christenbury

Members of the Emory University Hospital Serious Communicable Disease Unit "Team Ebola" include critical care and medical surgical nurses, along with a host of interdisciplinary partners.

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The National Patient Safety Foundation (NPSF) and the DAISY Foundation will award "Team Ebola" of the Emory University Hospital Serious Communicable Disease Unit (SCDU) with the National Patient Safety Foundation’s DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses. Members of "Team Ebola" will receive the award for their care of critically ill patients diagnosed with Ebola virus disease at the NPSF Patient Safety Congress, which takes place April 29-May 1 in Austin, Texas.
 
This award stems from the DAISY (Diseases Attacking the Immune System) Foundation’s signature program, the DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses, which is given in over 1,900 health care facilities in all 50 states and in 14 other countries. Nurses who have received the DAISY Award within their organizations in 2013 or 2014 were eligible for this new, national award, which places special emphasis on patient and workforce safety.
 
"Team Ebola" was honored with the DAISY Award earlier this year for excellence in caring for four patients with Ebola virus disease who were treated and released virus free in 2014 from Emory University Hospital.
 
This new, national award recognizes some of the most exceptional contributions to patient safety by nurses.
 
"At a time of public fear, concern and intense media attention, Emory Team Ebola stayed focused on what they were there to do: to provide safe, patient-centered, compassionate care to the individuals who were in need," says Susan Grant, MS, RN, FAAN, chief nurse executive for Emory Healthcare. "The team made a difference for health care workers caring for Ebola patients across the world, and for that reason they are truly deserving of the National Patient Safety Foundation’s DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses."
 
Members of the Emory University Hospital SCDU team include critical care and medical surgical nurses, along with a host of interdisciplinary partners. In addition to the direct care they provided, the team compiled its safety protocols and posted them on a public website. More than 20,000 providers thus far have downloaded the protocols for their use.
 
"The Emory team set the standard in safety in caring for patients diagnosed with Ebola virus disease," says Mike Mandl, president and CEO of Emory Healthcare. "That safety was first and foremost, not only for the patients, but for the nurses and physicians involved, other patients and staff in the hospital, and our community."
 
In a written statement of support for Team Ebola’s nomination, Ian Crozier, MD, the third patient treated for Ebola virus disease at Emory University Hospital wrote, "I will always be indebted to this outstanding team for the loving care they provided; even more meaningful for me is the compassion they extended toward my family. I owe my life to the team at Emory, and the world has benefited from their bravery and innovative contributions to the knowledge of Ebola care. I cannot think of another team more deserving of this prestigious award."
 
About Emory Healthcare:
 
Emory Healthcare, with more than 16,000 employees, is the largest and most comprehensive health system in Georgia. In fiscal year 2014, Emory Healthcare had $2.7 billion in annual net revenue and provided $80.3 million in charity care. System-wide, it has 1,830 licensed patient beds.
 
Emory Healthcare is the only health system in Georgia with two Magnet-designated hospitals, Emory Saint Joseph's Hospital and Emory University Hospital, for nursing excellence. Emory Healthcare's core purpose: "To serve humanity by improving health through integration of education, discovery and health care." For more information, visit www.emoryhealthcare.org.

About the National Patient Safety Foundation:

The National Patient Safety Foundation's vision is to create a world where patients and those who care for them are free from harm. A central voice for patient safety since 1997, NPSF partners with patients and families, the health care community, and key stakeholders to advance patient safety and health care workforce safety and disseminate strategies to prevent harm. NPSF is an independent, not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization. To learn more about the Foundation's work, visit www.npsf.org.

About the DAISY Foundation:

The DAISY Foundation was created in 1999 by the family of J. Patrick Barnes who died at age 33 of complications of an auto-immune disease (hence the name, an acronym for Diseases Attacking the Immune System.) Patrick received extraordinary care from his nurses, and his family felt compelled to express their profound gratitude for the compassion and skill nurses bring to patients and families every day. The DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses celebrates nurses in over 1,900 healthcare facilities around the world. For more information about The DAISY Award and the Foundation's other recognition of nurses, faculty and students, visit www.DAISYfoundation.org.

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