Mergen receives prestigious nursing award

Bothwell Regional Health Center recently presented its latest DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses to Mattie Mergen.

The DAISY Award is for patients and their families to nominate nurses who give outstanding, compassionate and skillful care. Mergen is a Registered Nurse (RN) in the hospital’s Critical Care Unit (CCU); she was nominated by Ramona Mefford, a patient who experienced complications after surgery.

“Even when I was close to death, Mattie made me feel very safe and secure,” Mefford said. “She remained calm and took control while keeping me calm during a terrifying time. She even stopped by the next day just to check on me. She kept my family in mind and checked on them, too. Mattie is amazing; her knowledge and bedside manner will touch many patients and families’ hearts.”

Mergen was inspired to pursue critical care nursing after her husband experienced serious complications following surgery and she witnessed the skill and compassion of nurses. She began working at Bothwell in January 2023 and has been in the CCU since. She recently earned her certification in critical care nursing (CCRN), a designation that reflects advanced clinical knowledge and skills. 

For Mergen, the most rewarding part of her career is working in her hometown and caring for the people who shaped her.

“Rural nursing is so special,” she said. “I perform life-saving interventions on people I’ve known my whole life and then see them thriving. Taking care of a community that has taken such great care of me fills my cup in a way I can’t explain.”

Mergen said Mefford is a patient she will never forget.

“Ramona had a very scary emergency, and I was determined to help her have the best outcome possible,” she said. “I kept encouraging her to think of her children and stay awake. Her family was her motivation, and our team worked together to save her life. I waited until she was out of surgery before I left that night and came back the next day to check on her. When she saw me, she started crying and told me I was meant to be a nurse. I was just relieved she was OK.”

Megan Elwood, an RN in Bothwell’s Clinical Education department, presented Mergen with a certificate congratulating her for being an “Extraordinary Nurse.” She also received a box of cinnamon rolls, a daisy bouquet, a DAISY Award pin and a sculpture called “A Healer’s Touch,” hand-carved by artists of the Shona Tribe in Africa. A DAISY Award banner recognizing her will hang in CCU and Mergen’s name will appear on the DAISY Foundation website.

“Receiving the DAISY Award is something I’ll never forget,” Mergen said. “Some of the best nurses I know have earned this award. To be recognized in that same way is such an honor, and I’m so thankful Ramona took the time to nominate me.”

The DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses was started in 1999 in Glen Ellen, California, by members of the family of Patrick Barnes, who died at the age of 33 of complications from an autoimmune disease. The care his nurses provided was the inspiration for the DAISY (Diseases Attacking the Immune System) Award.

An international award, the DAISY is awarded in more than 6,000 health care facilities and schools of nursing around the world, including 39 countries and territories. Bothwell Regional Health Center began recognizing its nurses with the DAISY Award in 2018. Jessica Wheeler, Shari Thomasson, Shasta Nardi, Courtney Rumans, Sarah Plante, Connie Roll, Ronda McMullin, Sarah Fredrickson, Sherri Egbert, Leslie Shapley, Seth Stotts, Stacey Nassar, Helen Fisher, Donna Cline, Linda Lower, Sarah Cordes, Reilly O’Shea, Heather Kaneko, Jenice Serrano and Emma Stone are previous recipients. 

To learn more or to submit a nomination, visit brhc.org/daisy.