UC Davis Health's Rapid Response Team has been presented with a DAISY Team Award, which recognizes outstanding members of the nursing community. The team is being honored for the care they provide patients and the emergent support they give to colleagues throughout the hospital.
Chief Nursing and Patient Care Services Officer Toby Marsh and Executive Director of Patient Care Services Joleen Lonigan presented certificates and pins to the team at an awards celebration.
The Rapid Response Team touches every aspect of the medical center. The team assists staff members, patients, and patients' families from the Adult and Pediatric Acute Care Specialty Units, responding to urgent changes in a patient's condition. The team assesses and stabilizes the patient who is at risk of needing a higher level of care or experiencing cardiopulmonary arrest.
"The Rapid Response Team always communicates clearly and concisely with patients, technologists, physicians and other nurses, and prevents many problems before they even happen," said Chad Jones, an MRI technician at UC Davis Health. "I have witnessed several times the team respond to an emergency, instantly assess the situation and then calmly and confidently guide everyone through what needs to be done. It's an amazing thing to witness."
They provide the calm, steady presence in a storm of clinical uncertainty. They are the listening, reassuring presence to the many nurses throughout the hospital."-Paul Fankhanel
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the Rapid Response Team has also been called upon to help with lunch and break relief, or to be a resource for units that are short-staffed.
"I believe that when you uplift the Rapid Response Team, the rest of UC Davis Health providers are also uplifted," said Paul Fankhanel, nurse manager of Patient Care Resources. "They provide the calm, steady presence in a storm of clinical uncertainty. They are the listening, reassuring presence to the many nurses throughout the hospital."
Rapid Response Team (all registered nurses)
Bruce Gittings
Susan Gourley
Heather M. Jones
Alicia Kempenaar
Taufa M. Lee
Amy Logsdon
Christina Matson
Stacy McCarthy
Hassan J. Mofidi
Trevor Morton
Laura Mulcahy
Tony Perez
Sean O. Perkins
Malia Ryman
Stefanie J. Stewart
About the DAISY Award
The DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses recognizes outstanding members of the nursing community and the very special work they do every day. It was established by the DAISY Foundation in memory of the extraordinary nursing J. Patrick Barnes received when he was hospitalized. (DAISY is an acronym for diseases attacking the immune system.) This nursing recognition award program offers patients, families, and professional colleagues a way to honor nurses for all they do. The DAISY awardees consistently demonstrate excellence through their clinical expertise and extraordinary compassionate care.
