Hershey Medical Center’s Himes honored with DAISY Award and Nightingale ceremony
Judy Himes, senior vice president and chief nursing officer for Hershey Medical Center, has given out many DAISY Awards during her 16 years of service. But the tables were turned when the retiring nurse leader received the July DAISY (Diseases Attacking the Immune System) Award on Aug. 17 for her countless contributions to patient care over her 44-year career as a registered nurse.
Often referred to as the “nurse’s nurse,” Himes was nominated by her peers and staff.
“Judy’s clinical expertise, compassion, team approach, patience, empathy and her humanistic touch has created and empowered nursing staff to care for patients as individuals by placing their safety and emotional well-being at the forefront of how we care for them,” the staff wrote.
Surrounded by nurses, Himes’ emotions showed above her mask as April Adley, vice president of nursing, Children’s Hospital and Women’s Health, read from the nomination.
“We celebrate you today,” she read. “Your legacy will remain at Hershey Medical Center through the many advancements in nursing professional development, patient safety initiatives, and improvements to support patient family-centered care.”
Adley also presented Himes with a bound book of photographs and well-wishes that chronicled her career at the Medical Center.
Himes is the first retiring nurse leader to participate in the Nursing Department’s new retirement ceremony. Nurses light a small Florence Nightingale lamp to symbolize the nursing knowledge passed from one nurse to another.
While Nurse Manager Tracy Sinopoli, who helped develop the ceremony, read the Retired Nurse poem, Himes held the lamp. Following the reading, Sinopoli extinguished the lamp, to signify that it is Himes’ time to rest.
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