The kindness and compassion shown by Gabe Gartman, RN, to a deaf patient during an extended stay in the Intensive Care Unit at Conway Regional has earned him the DAISY award. Gabe is the only Conway Regional nurse to achieve the award twice.  

The patient’s mother was so impressed by Gabe’s care that she nominated him for the DAISY Award, an international recognition program that honors and celebrates the skillful, compassionate care that nurses provide every day. The award is selected on an anonymous basis and is the top nursing award given at Conway Regional. 

The family of J. Patrick Barnes established the DAISY Foundation after he died from complications of the auto-immune disease ITP in 1999. The family was so moved by the care that Patrick and his family received during his hospitalization that they felt compelled to say thank you in a very public way. 

As part of the nomination, the grateful mom discussed how Gabe went out of his way to learn important words in sign language to comfort her child and helped ease the fear in a scary situation. She explained, “It was a very critical time and could have easily had a bad outcome. He went above and beyond for several days.” 

The nomination continued, “His kindness extended to giving up his time on his day off to sit with (the patient) so I could get some rest. He always made us smile, even on bad days. He was always positive and reassuring.” 

Gabe was training a young nurse at the time sharing his knowledge and experience with him. “This experience made me even more thankful to have someone caring for my child, who also cared about his teammates as well.” 

If you would like to nominate a Conway Regional staff member for recognition, visit: https://www.conwayregional.org/employee-recognition