Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/551105
5 0 | PULSE S u m m e r 2 0 1 5 E N D N OT E A s part of the National Nurses Week (May 6–12) celebration, Torrance Memorial Medical Center dedicated a Healer's Touch Statue as a tribute to its nurses. Nurses who receive the DAISY Award receive a miniature version of the statue when they are honored each month (see page 14 for recent winners). e DAISY Foundation co-founders, Mark and Bonnie Barnes, were on hand for the statue's unveiling in the Torrance Memorial Auxiliary Healing Garden. ey shared their son's story—the inspiration for founding the organization. In 1999 at the age of 33, Patrick Barnes awoke one morning with symptoms of an autoimmune disease aer having survived Hodgkins Disease twice. Aer eight weeks of hospitalization at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, Patrick passed away. e extraordinary care he received by nurses in the hospital prompted the Barnes to form e DAISY Foundation (DAISY is an acronym for Diseases Attacking the Immune System) as a way to say "thank-you for the gis nurses give their patients and families every day." Since then the award has been adopted by health care facilities across the United States and beyond. e Healer's Touch is a serpentine stone sculpture, which has been hand-carved by artists of the Shona tribe in Zimbabwe. e Shona people show tremendous respect to their traditional healers. DAISY AWARD FOUNDERS DEDICATE HEALER'S TOUCH STATUE TORRANCE MEMORIAL RECOGNIZES THE SELFLESS CARE NURSES PROVIDE FOR PATIENTS AND FAMILIES EVERY DAY. Lisa Palm-Alkadis, RN, Tina Abel, RN, Melissa Gunlund, RN, Bethany Mota, RN, Maria Olton, RN, Ed Nazareth, RN, and Bonnie and Mark Barnes with the Healer's Touch statue. Torrance Memorial's Versant RNs and Bonnie and Mark Barnes gather around the Healer's Touch statue. The Versant program is an education and training system designed to transition newly graduated RNs from students to safe, competent and confident professionals.