Like most of the attendees at Monadnock Community Hospital’s DAISY Award ceremony on Wednesday, Melissa Curran was curious who had been chosen as this year’s recipient. The oncology department nurse knew a former patient’s wife was planning to nominate her, but hadn’t given it much thought – until Curran realized she was the one set to be honored.
“I was shocked,” Curran said.
The DAISY Award For Extraordinary Nurses is given out at healthcare organizations across the country each year and was created by the family of J. Patrick Barnes, who died at age 33 of complications of Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura. After the care that Barnes received, the family sought to “honor the super-human work nurses do for patients and families every day.” Curran was honored with a bouquet of flowers and a small statue featuring a mom and young child.
A total of 16 nurses at MCH were nominated by patients or families for the award this year, but given the impact that Curran had on Judy and Otto Peucker of Peterborough it is an award that is well-deserved. In February of this year, Judy penned a heartfelt letter to the DAISY Award committee at MCH highlighting the care that Curran provided her husband and the compassion she showed every time they went in for treatment.
“Having your spouse or partner in oncology is a difficult situation,” Peucker said. “But it quickly became apparent that he clicked with Melissa.”
Curran always worked to keep their spirits up, Peucker said, and was there to help alleviate any concerns. And there were a lot of them once the COVID-19 pandemic hit, keeping Peucker from joining her husband for his treatments. That’s when Currant “would sometimes walk him out to the car and we would chat,” Peucker said.
“It made it easier for me to get through the hard times,” she said.
As a former nurse, Peucker said that Curran had a way about her that is necessary in the nursing profession.
“She smiles all the time,” Peucker said. “And to have a person that has an up personality, that’s the kind of nurse you need.”
For Curran, “the DAISY Award is pretty special in my mind.” During her time in oncology over almost two decades, including the last eight at MCH, Curran has cared for patients with ITP and even met the Barnes family at an oncology conference.
“I think that nurses have the opportunity to provide DAISY quality care to every patient,” Curran said. “That’s our job.”
Curran has always felt a pull toward oncology, which goes well beyond just caring for this inflicted with cancer.
“I have just always felt that was my mission. To take care of people and just a heart for taking care of those cancer patients,” she said.
Curran, who says she’s a planner, had no idea she would be this year’s recipient when she went to the ceremony. But she was honored to be selected among a group of very worthy candidates.
“To me, the bar is high,” Curran said. “It meant a lot that she felt so highly of me to be nominate me.” The community she cares for is important to Curran and knows what the MCH staff does on a daily basis is valued. “We care about each other because we’re a close-knit community.”