Sitka Nurse Honored for Infusion Services

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Category: News

Created on Monday, 25 November 2024 15:47

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By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
    A health care nonprofit has recognized Sitka nurse Teresa Remington for her work providing quality health care for cancer patients at SEARHC Mt. Edgecumbe Medical Center.
    The DAISY Foundation honored Remington for her service as an infusion specialist in a hospital without an oncology unit.

Teresa Remington. (Photo provided to the Sentinel)

    Remington, a registered nurse since 2001, said she was at a SEARHC meeting on November 11 when it was announced that she had won the award for her work with cancer patients.
    “I was grateful to be recognized for that. I am not someone that takes the spotlight very well; I really am someone that prefers to be kind of a fly on the wall,” Remington told the Sentinel. “But I think it’s an incredible recognition for nursing in general, and exciting to move forward and get to acknowledge these experiences that nurses and patients have, and how much it impacts their life. I just think it’s a beautiful recognition of nurses’ hard work and what we do.”
    Remington, as infusion nurse manager, spends part of her day managing her unit at SEARHC, but also personally provides infusion therapies, which can range from simple injections to lengthy processes. She helped build the SEARHC infusion unit “from the ground up,” she said, noting that cancer care is limited without an oncologist on staff.
    “We don’t have an oncologist, so it’s something that you have to be incredibly careful of when you accept referrals and try to give people reassurance that we either can or can’t do their therapy here,” she said. “We have to be careful with what we take on and the supportive care that those folks need, and ensure that we can do that.”
    Patients on clinical trials seek treatment outside of Sitka, she said, but for those who “have relatively stable conditions and they’re getting treatment that they’re tolerating, (they) have the option of being able to stay home a little longer between their oncology visits.”
    The DAISY Foundation, a nonprofit organization based in Anacortes, Washington, has honored more than 220,000 nurses in more than 40 countries since its founding in 1999. The group’s name stands for Diseases Attacking the Immune System. The organization awards medical grants, too. Recipients of DAISY awards receive reduced rates for some types of continuing education and training.
    The award is for nurses who “go above and beyond to not only provide patients and families with excellence in clinical care but also compassion,” the foundation’s website states. “At The DAISY Foundation, we aim to honor them by showing our profound gratitude for all that they do. The DAISY Award is a recognition program to celebrate and recognize nurses by collecting nominations from patients, families, and co-workers.”
    A patient nominated Remington after she sat at his bedside administering an infusion deep into the night.
    “I came to this area and we didn’t have these services offered,” Remington said. “So with us creating the grounding for being able to look after these folks that have cancer and provide their cancer treatments without an oncologist is fairly unique.”
    “Taking care of some of these folks even when they’re in the hospital, because our hospital nurses are not familiar with looking after cancer patients and some of these specialty treatments. And this gentleman, I did sit with him until about two in the morning, giving him a treatment that they don’t normally give on the floor,” Remington recalled.
    Remington’s family, as well as the patient and his family, were present at May 11 meeting when the DAISY Award was given to Remington.
   A press release issued by SEARHC praised Remington, who has worked at the hospital for seven years, for her dedication to her work, and to her patients.
    “Gerald Blood, a cancer patient who moved to Sitka for more accessible care, describes her as a ‘miracle worker’ who has provided attentive, life-enhancing care,” the SEARHC statement said. “From arranging timely transfusions and medications to ensuring every patient’s need is met, Teresa exemplifies the compassionate care the DAISY Award is meant to honor.”
    Remington said it’s beneficial for patients when they don’t have to leave their community to receive cancer treatment.
    “There’s a potential for growth to branch out and maybe offer these services in these smaller communities and try to keep people home,” she said. “It’s rewarding to be able to see people be able to stay home in their own homes and eat their own food and sleep in their own beds while they’re going through these things, because they do fare better being able to stay home.”