A mental health nurse working for Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust (LPT) has received the international DAISY Award for the outstanding compassionate care she provides to her patients.
The DAISY Awards are an international recognition programme that honours and celebrates the exceptional care that many nurses and midwives provide every day.
Matshidiso [Tshidi] Justin, mental health nurse, was nominated for the award for going “above and beyond”, whilst supporting her patient through a challenging period.
Tshidi’s nomination from her patient reads: “I am beyond honoured to nominate Tshidi for this award. When I first got admitted to Heather ward last year, I was in a very bad place. I couldn’t see a way out and I thought life was no longer worth living. I hated the world and I no longer wanted to live, until I met Tshidi who was not only my named nurse but my biggest cheerleader who quite literally saved my life and showed me all the reasons as to why life was worth living.
“Tshidi is one in a million; she showed me love, comfort, happiness and gave me a safe place to run to when the world got a little too much and a little too loud. Early on in my admission, I begged her to give up on me, but she didn’t give up on me and she didn’t leave, she stayed and was the light in my darkness. She got me through to the other side and thanks to her I made it out alive after one whole year of being in hospital.
“She didn’t judge me, dismiss me, tell me I was being dramatic, she made me feel wanted, heard and happy. She helped me to start to fall back in love with the world again and life itself. She made me feel safe. On a bad day where communication felt impossible, she’d know what to do and how to help without me having to say anything, she would know when I was happy and when I was sad but either way she was there.
“All the staff on Heather ward are wonderfully amazing and all of them have had their own special parts to play in my journey to recovery and the reason I’m alive and I could never thank them enough, but Tshidi was special and everyone on the ward adores her, staff and patients. She’s hardworking, supportive, comforting, understanding, patient, caring, funny and very dramatic, but goes above and beyond for anyone and everyone because she certainly did that for me.
“Even under unfortunate circumstances, Tshidi has given me some memorable moments during my stay in hospital. She did everything she could to keep me from falling and even when I learnt to stand up on my own, she was still there standing with me. I had a strong attachment to Tshidi which everyone could see because she showed me safety, something I’d not felt in a while, and I clung to her for it because I’d forgotten what it felt like to feel safe, and she reminded me.
“She healed a heart she never even broke, and she helped me gain confidence, something I really struggled with and if it wasn’t for her, I don’t know where I would be. I couldn’t be more thankful even if I tried to be because there are no amount of ways I could thank her for everything she has done for me. Tshidi, never change the person or the nurse that you are because you are beyond incredible and even under this unfortunate circumstance, I feel like the luckiest girl to have met someone as amazing, funny, kind, caring, smart, and loving as you.”
Matshidiso received her award from Jane Martin, assistant director for nursing and quality at LPT, accompanied by her colleagues.
Matshidiso shared: “I am so honoured to receive the DAISY award. Caring for patients is a privilege I hold close to my heart, and I am continually inspired by the resilience, courage and trust they show during their most vulnerable moments.
“Being able to make a tangible difference to my patients- seeing a patient’s health improve because of my care gives me joy. Nursing is more than a profession, it’s a calling and it’s an art of caring with both skill and compassion.”
You can thank your nurse by making a DAISY Award nomination here: www.leicspart.nhs.uk/about/daisy-award/
An acronym for Diseases Attacking the Immune System, The DAISY Foundation was formed in America in November 1999, by the family of J. Patrick Barnes who died at age 33 of complications of Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (ITP). The nursing care Patrick received when hospitalised profoundly touched his family.
You can find out more about the DAISY Foundation on their website: www.daisyfoundation.org/
Each DAISY Award honouree is recognised at a ceremony in their ward or department and receives a DAISY Award pin, certificate and a hand-carved sculpture A Healer’s Touch, funded by LPT’s charity Raising Health.