SVHC Announces DAISY Award Winner

BENNINGTON, VT—July 8, 2021—Sarah Weber, RN, of Southwestern Vermont Medical Center’s Medical/Surgical Unit, was the recipient of June’s DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses.

“Sarah’s a wonderful nurse with so many good qualities,” Pamela Duchene, PhD, APRN, the organization’s chief nursing officer and vice president of Patient Care Services, shared. “Her patients appreciate her above-and-beyond approach to communication. She listens and supports her patients and their families every step of the way.”

Duchene presented the award during a surprise presentation on the unit on Tuesday, June 8.

Weber was nominated by the family members of a COVID-19 patient. The family shared that Weber’s care marked an important turning point in their mother’s illness. Weber’s careful listening and relaying information made the patient’s family feel more at ease. The patient is recovering at home.

In the nomination, the patient’s family wrote, “She went above and beyond her normal duties and has made all the difference. She is knowledgeable, kind, and very professional.”

Weber holds a bachelors in special education from Boston College and an associate’s in nursing from Vermont Technical College. She has worked at SVMC since 2019. In addition, she is a preceptor and serves on the Med/Surge Advisory Council.

“I am a little overwhelmed,” Weber admitted after the surprise presentation. “I come to work every day to help every single patient and make sure they feel validated. I listen to and acknowledge their problems. It is an honor to do this work here at SVMC.”

Weber noted how important it has been to be a conduit of information and support between patients and their families during the COVID pandemic, as families are not able to be at the bedside with the nursing team.

“I cannot thank this extraordinary nurse enough, and I hope she can know how very grateful we are to her,” the patient’s family shared.
The DAISY Award is part of a national merit-based recognition program established by the DAISY Foundation. It celebrates nurses’ education, training, and skill. Nominations can be submitted by patients, families, physicians, and colleagues. All nominations are blinded, so that they are anonymous before being reviewed by a selection committee. One nurse is then chosen as the DAISY Award winner. DAISY Awards are presented on a regular basis, usually bi-monthly or quarterly.

About SVHC:
Southwestern Vermont Health Care (SVHC) is a comprehensive, preeminent, health care system providing exceptional, convenient, and affordable care to the communities of Bennington and Windham Counties of Vermont, eastern Rensselaer and Washington Counties of New York, and northern Berkshire County in Massachusetts. SVHC includes Southwestern Vermont Medical Center (SVMC), Southwestern Vermont Regional Cancer Center, the Centers for Living and Rehabilitation, and the SVHC Foundation. SVMC includes 25 primary and specialty care practices.

Southwestern Vermont Health Care is among the most lauded small rural health systems in the nation. It is the recipient of the American Hospital Association’s 2020 Rural Hospital Leadership Award. SVMC ranked fourth nationwide for the value of care it provides by the Lown Institute Hospital Index and is a five-time recipient of the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Magnet® recognition for nursing excellence. It has also received the highest marks possible from the Leapfrog Group. 

Southwestern Vermont Medical Center provides exceptional care without discriminating on the basis of an individual’s age, race, ethnicity, religion, culture, language, physical or mental disability, socioeconomic status, sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity or expression. Language assistance services, free of charge, are available at 1-800-367-9559.