Wendy Moore was driving home from work the afternoon of April 13, 2022, when she came upon a wreck involving a truck and two dump trucks south of Seymour.
Being a hospice nurse at Schneck Medical Center, she without hesitation got out of her car to see if she could help.
Police and ambulance personnel had yet to arrive, and both dump truck drivers were out of their vehicles and doing fine. The man in the truck, however, wasn’t.
He was positioned to where Moore couldn’t see his face or get to his hands. Another woman had crawled into the passenger side of the truck to take his pulse. He was unresponsive but still breathing and had a pulse.
Moore kept her hand on the man’s shoulder so he would know he wasn’t alone, told him he wasn’t alone and that help was on the way and prayed with him. She did that until he no longer had a pulse.
Ronnie Brickley Jr., 43, of Scottsburg sustained fatal injuries in the crash and was pronounced deceased at the scene by the Jackson County Coroner’s Office.
His sister, Susie Davis, is a registered nurse who has worked at Hampton Oaks in Scottsburg for more than 11 years. She knows about the nurse’s instinct, and even though her brother died that day, she finds comfort in knowing he wasn’t alone.
“I know without a doubt he heard her voice. He just wasn’t alone in that moment, so in my eyes, that man did go peacefully,” Davis said. “I know she didn’t have to get out of her car on that day, but she chose to, and she had the courage to do it.”
Davis shared this story in her nomination for Moore to receive the DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses from Schneck.
On Monday afternoon, she had the honor of sharing the story with those attending the annual nursing awards ceremony at the Seymour hospital and then got to present a pin, a certificate and a Healer’s Touch sculpture to Moore.
Davis was joined by her other siblings and family members.
“She gave us something that we were unable to do in that horrible moment,” she said of Moore. “She was there for a stranger without hesitation just providing the care that she knows. I will never be able to thank her enough for being there in that moment.”
Moore was among nine Schneck employees recognized during the ceremony, which always coincides with National Nurses Week.
Others receiving the DAISY Award were Brooke Rush, labor and delivery; Joy Banister, infusion center; and Aeriel Richardson, emergency department. Receiving the DAISY Nurse Leader Award was Jamie Napier, director of primary care practices.
The DAISY Foundation is a not-for-profit organization established in memory of J. Patrick Barnes by members of his family. He was 33 when he died in late 1999 from complications of idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, a little known but not uncommon autoimmune disease. DAISY is an acronym for diseases attacking the immune system.
The care Barnes and his family received from nurses while he was ill inspired this unique means of thanking nurses for making a profound difference in the lives of their patients and patient families.
Schneck also recognized non-nursing team members with the BEE Award: Charity Clodfelder, diagnostic imaging; Kim Hackman, cardiovascular services; Dr. Courtney Glos, Schneck Pediatrics; and Nohemi Hilderbrand, translator/interpreter.
The Be Extraordinary Every Day Award was developed at Schneck to honor and recognize the care team that supports nursing staff and works closely with them to provide patients and families with the compassion and care they need.
Team members, families and patients submit numerous stories speaking to the excellent care provided at Schneck. From these submissions, the DAISY and BEE committees review the blinded nominations to determine award recipients.
“Our nurses and non-nursing team members are heroes every day,” said Amy Pettit, vice president of patient care services and chief nursing officer for Schneck. “It’s important that our team members know their work is highly valued, and the DAISY and BEE awards provide a way for us to recognize their efforts.”
Rush received three nominations. One came from a woman whose baby girl arrived earlier than expected, and she said Rush gave her outstanding care and support on what could have been an extremely scary day.
“I know that nursing is her job, but I also recognize that not every nurse can give this quality of care. Thank you for all you do, Brooke. You are a rock star,” the woman wrote.
Another woman thanked her for the care she showed her and her baby and told her how to get rid of postoperative pain.
The other woman said she had a history of hemorrhaging, and Rush was extra vigilant after a C-section, going as far as continuing to check on her to assess her bleeding, immediately taking action when she noticed a change and keeping her informed of what was going on.
“I credit Brooke for turning a potentially critical situation into one that was able to be handled with a less-intensive manner. I cannot thank Brooke enough for that night,” the woman wrote.
Banister was lauded by a patient for taking time to explain everything she was doing during an infusion center visit. After lab results came back, Banister printed them for the patient and explained them.
“I asked a lot of questions, and maybe even questions that she should not have answered, but she was understanding and tried to get the answers that we needed. I could not have been more impressed with her general compassion and attention to the small details and hearing us. Joy is the kind of nurse we all want,” the patient wrote.
Pettit nominated Richardson after having an hourlong conversation with a man regarding the care she provided for his wife in the emergency department. His wife had a lot of chronic conditions and late in life had to be taken to the Schneck ER on several occasions.
“When he came, he would always look for and hope Aeriel was working,” Pettit said. “Aeriel was extremely caring. He could tell that she loved her job and that she cared for her patients. She made everything seem better. If she was in the ER, he knew she would make sure he was well cared for, even if it wasn’t her taking direct care of his wife.”
After the man’s wife died, a neighbor who was part of a nursing honor guard offered to be present for the viewing but wasn’t able to stay for the funeral. Near the time of the funeral, the man looked up and saw Richardson, and he asked her to read the nurse’s prayer during the service.
“While Aeriel had never participated in a service like this, she gladly said yes and stayed for the funeral,” Pettit said. “He was so proud of his wife, as a nurse herself, and knew that she would have been proud to have Aeriel attend her funeral and read the prayer.”
Napier was nominated for helping a patient who came into Schneck Primary Care with strokelike symptoms. The provider wanted to get the man to diagnostic imaging at the hospital as soon as possible, but he didn’t have a vehicle and would have to walk there. The staff reached out to Napier, and she was able to get a hospital vehicle and took him to Schneck.
Napier learned the patient had walked to his appointment from Freetown and it took him around five hours, and he also had issues with insurance but didn’t know what resources to utilize.
While the man was having a CT scan, Napier reached out to various entities to help him get the resources he needed.
“After his imaging, Jamie drove the patient home and made sure that he got the results of his CT,” the nomination reads. “Jamie went above and beyond for this patient in so many ways and absolutely exemplifies patient first.”
Clodfelder received two nominations. One said she hooked a patient up to a stress test monitor while a coworker was busy with another patient and running behind, and the other was for the care she showed to an elderly man who was facing placement in an extended care facility or a geriatric psychiatric unit.
“Charity was the only team member that the patient was cordial with,” the nomination reads. “She took time out of her workday to sit with him and keep him calm. This patient became agitated very easily, and he couldn’t understand what was going on around him. He had no family with him, and it was a difficult home situation. Charity’s calm, respectful and cheerful demeanor kept the patient from getting agitated and aggressive.”
Hackman was recognized for being a team player who consistently goes above and beyond for her patients and coworkers, including recruiting additional staff, working long days, staying late and coming in on days off to make sure patients receive their echocardiograms in a timely manner.
One day, soon after leaving work, she received a call about a patient who was at the hospital for an appointment, and she turned around and completed the echo.
“By the time that this was complete, he no longer had a ride home, so now, we have a patient stranded at the hospital. She arranged for a cab to take him home and paid for it out of her own pocket. She deserves to be recognized for the countless ways she excels at her job,” the nomination reads.
Glos was nominated for helping a grandmother who was given temporary custody of a grandchild. At the child’s first appointment with Glos, the woman only had a car seat that was given to her, a couple of outfits and formula bottles provided by the hospital.
Glos took her and the infant to Walmart on her lunch and bought the necessary items she needed to care for the child.
“She went above and beyond to meet the family where they were instead of looking down on them and sending them to find help on their own. We have to meet people’s basic needs in order for them to be successful, and I believe this is a perfect example of exactly that,” the nomination says.
Finally, Hilderbrand, aka “MiMi,” was praised for coming in on a day off to assist a patient in labor and interpret for a medical procedure. Once complications arose, she chose to stay and continue to support the woman.
“Her support continued throughout the patient’s stay and past her scheduled hours as the patient was having to make difficult decisions concerning the loss of her newborn baby,” the nomination reads. “We know that MiMi is the backbone for this patient and her family on what was supposed to be the happiest day of their lives. MiMi consistently advocates for and supports each of her patients every day.”