ICN Nurse Honored
Cynthia Jensen, a charge nurse in the Intensive Care Nursery at UCSF Children's Hospital, was honored in late December as the winner of the DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses.
Jensen, who has worked in the ICN for 11 years, has been a key person in organizing the annual ICN reunion, which provides an opportunity for families and their caregivers to celebrate the success and health of what was once an ill infant. Last year, more than 700 people attended the event.
"Families anxiously look forward to this event and visiting with former nurses and doctors who cared for their babies while they were in the hospital," said Michele Cathcart, ICN patient manager. "Only through Cynthia's organization, compassion and caring is this event as successful as it is. Not only is this event fun for the families, it is also a great time for the Children's Hospital staff to share the joy of the families and celebrate the lives in which they have made a profound difference."
The award is part of the DAISY Foundation's program to recognize the "superhuman efforts nurses perform every day."
The not-for-profit DAISY Foundation, based in Glen Ellen, CA, was established by J. Mark Barnes and his family in memory of his son J. Patrick Barnes, who died at the age of 33 in late 1999 from complications of ITP, a little-known but not uncommon auto-immune disease. The UCSF Medical Center and UCSF Children's Hospital are among 25 hospitals nationwide participating in the program, which issues a monthly award for extraordinary nurses at each hospital.
For more information or to nominate a nurse for the DAISY Award, contact Catherine Wittenberg, director of nursing, at 353-2717 or via email.