Medical-Surgical Nurse Honored with DAISY Award

Lompoc Valley Medical Center Registered Nurse Angela Johnson has been honored with The DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses.

The not-for-profit DAISY Foundation was established in memory of J. Patrick Barnes by members of his family and honors nurses for making a profound difference in the lives of their patients and patient families.

A Medical-Surgical unit nurse, Angela was honored for the extra attention and care she gave not only to her patient, but to the man’s family. The out-of-town patient came to LVMC for emergency surgery, bringing his wife and three children, all under the age of 4. The family, who were apparently living in their vehicle, could not stay in the hospital with the patient due to regulations. The man, who needed to stay for at least 24 hours, wanted to leave the hospital after his surgery to care for his family.

Angela, seeing the situation and concerned for the health and recovery of her patient, found a hotel room for the wife and children and paid for the stay with her own money. The family was able to have a safe place to stay overnight, and the patient was able to continue his recovery.

The act of kindness – above and beyond her actual duties – earned Angela a DAISY nomination from coworkers and fellow nurses Erma Rojas and Johnelie “JJ” Dial.

“You are just so amazing,” JJ said to Angela during a ceremony Wednesday. “For me, it was important to see that kindness from someone. For her to do that, I’m so proud of her. She’s amazing.”

Erma said she and JJ knew they needed to nominate Angela for a DAISY award.

“She deserves it,” Erma said. “She went above and beyond.”

Angela was surprised by the award, which was presented in the Medical-Surgical Unit.

“To me, it’s just money,” she said afterward. “We needed to find them shelter. It’s just money.”

Angela, who grew up in Ventura County, has been an LVMC employee since 2018. She earned her nursing degree in 2015 from Ventura College. She said she sought a job in nursing because she would always have job opportunities.

“I do enjoy taking care of people,” Angela said. “I have a mothering personality.”

In addition to flowers and other gifts, Angela received a certificate which reads: "In deep appreciation of all you do, who you are, and the incredibly meaningful difference you make in the lives of so many people."

A Northern California resident, Patrick Barnes died in 1999 at the age of 33 from complications caused by ITP, or Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura, an auto-immune disease. DAISY is an acronym for Diseases Attacking the Immune System. The foundation was inspired by the care Patrick and his family received from nurses while he was ill.

Nurses are nominated by patients, families and colleagues. Angela was chosen as the recipient of the LVMC DAISY Award by a committee of LVMC, Comprehensive Care Center and Lompoc Health clinical and non-clinical staff after an evaluation of all submissions.

She also received a DAISY Award pin and a sculpture called A Healer’s Touch, hand-carved by artists of the Shona Tribe in Zimbabwe.

LVMC DAISY nominations may be submitted here: https://www.lompocvmc.com/resources/patient-feedback/

More information about the award is available at daisyfoundation.org.