Gillian Tarbett has been honored as the UF Health St. Johns DAISY Award recipient for the fourth quarter of 2023. Tarbett was recognized for providing superb care to a patient and for the emotional support she gave to the entire family.
The DAISY Award is an international program that rewards and celebrates the extraordinary compassion and skill nurses give daily. Tarbett, a registered nurse on the fifth floor at UF Health Flagler Hospital, was nominated for the exemplary care she provided, not only to the patient but also in calming his wife and his daughter, who had rushed to St. Augustine from Orlando.
“She was extremely knowledgeable, articulate, personable and wise,” wrote Lenus Sutherland in his nomination letter. “She allayed my daughter's fears and tirelessly answered my questions and concerns.”
Tarbett’s care impressed Sutherland, who has spent his entire career in the field of health care technology, not only with her clinical knowledge of his treatment plan but in the demeanor she employed, which left him in the best possible space for recovery.
“Her medical education was obviously solid and wide-ranging,” Sutherland wrote. “Her communication skills were superb, and her interactions with fellow health care team members left us all feeling like the care I would receive from any of them was to be trusted.
“It was a privilege to see her in action and to be under her expert care.”
Tarbett was honored that her patient recognized her compassion and goal of making his stay as comfortable as possible.
“It’s such an honor,” said Tarbett. “I tell my patients, ‘We know no one wants to be here, you’re in pain, it’s scary waking you up all hours of the night,’ so if I can just make it a little bit better, that’s my goal.
“I want to be that nurse who gets to know her patients. If I can help ease that fear just a little bit, it makes my heart happy.”
“Gillian’s care of Mr. Sutherland is representative of the total care we strive to provide each of our patients,” said Carlton DeVooght, president and CEO of UF Health St. Johns. “She provided the physical and emotional care that Mr. Sutherland needed in his time of duress. UF Health St. Johns focuses on each and every patient's experience when they are with us, and Gillian represents exactly what we endeavor to accomplish.”
In recognition of this honor, Tarbett received a stone-carved “Healers Touch” trophy, a DAISY winner’s pin, a gift basket and a $200 bonus.
Tarbett’s nomination was among 50 recognitions submitted in the fourth quarter of 2023 by patients, their families and UF Health St. Johns team members.
The DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses is part of The DAISY Foundation’s program to recognize the super-human efforts nurses make every day.
The not-for-profit DAISY Foundation, based in Glen Ellen, California, was established by J. Mark Barnes and his family in memory of his son J. Patrick Barnes. Barnes died at the age of 33 in 1999 from complications of idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, a little-known autoimmune disease. The nursing care he and his family received while he was ill inspired this unique means of thanking nurses for making a profound difference in the lives of their patients and families.
