Memorial Announces Celise Bruce, LPN March 2023 DAISY winner

​Congratulations to Celise Bruce, LPN, a team member in 7 Tower at Lake Charles Memorial Hospital! She was nominated by a patient's family for her attentive care and encouragement to her patients.

From the Nominator:

My dad was admitted via ER Trauma to ICU and stayed there for 2 weeks. Once he was off of the ventilator and stable enough to move to med/surg he was transferred to 7T. On 7T, my dad was assigned to a nurse named Celise. I can never thank Celise enough for fighting and advocating for my father alongside me. Situations are sometimes unconventional, but where there is a will there is a way and I believe that Celise will find a way.

After being in ICU for 2 weeks and despite his daily baths, his long hair was a struggle. We couldn’t get him in the shower because he was not physically able but Celise did not hesitate to find a way to assist me in washing his hair. I expected her to tell me I could wash it alone, but I certainly did not expect her to dive in and help. My father is a strong man and was really struggling with not being able to care for himself and wanted to go home. He has a 1-year-old old son for whom he is the primary caretaker.

Although he had proven himself medically, he felt that he was not being given the opportunity to show his strength and was being “written off” to LTAC outside of our system. I spoke with Dr. A and Celise and relayed our concerns. Immediately after I left, Celise approached my dad and said, “Let’s show them what you can do!” She helped him to his feet and walked him as far as he could go. Because of her his whole demeanor changed, he found his confidence and began to fight harder. He surpassed all expectations and is on the road to recovery much sooner than even I thought he would be. Celise is an amazing individual who chose to make a difference. It is nurses like Celise who make the world a better place.

About DAISY:

In late 1999, at the age of 33, Patrick Barnes awoke with some blood blisters in his mouth. Having survived Hodgkins Disease twice, he was admitted to the hospital and diagnosed with the auto-immune disease, ITP (Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura).

Said his father, Mark Barnes, "We are so blessed that we were able to spend the eight weeks of his hospitalization with him and his family. During those weeks, we experienced the best of Nursing. We were there to see the clinical skill that dealt with his very complex medical situation, the fast thinking of nurses who saved his life more than once, and that nursing excellence that took years to hone to the best of the profession. But frankly, as a patient family, we rather expected that Pat would have great clinical care. That was why he was in the hospital. What we did not expect was the way his nurses delivered that care - the kindness and compassion they gave Pat and all of us in his family every day. We were awed by the way the nurses touched him and spoke with him, even when he was on a ventilator and totally sedated. The way they informed and educated us eased our minds. They truly helped us through the darkest hours of our lives, with soft voices of hope and strong loving hugs that to this day, we still feel."

Just days after he died, the family began talking about what they would do to help fill the giant hole in their hearts that Pat’s passing had left. His wife came up with the acronym, DAISY, standing for diseases attacking the immune system. As they discussed what to do in Patrick’s memory, first and foremost, they wanted to say Thank You for the gifts nurses give their patients and families every day. That is when the family created The DAISY Award For Extraordinary Nurses.

For more information regarding Celise's nomination, click here.