Teddie Hambaugh, RN, recognized as DAISY Award Recipient at Starr Regional Medical Center

Pictured, left to right: Brent Jarvis, RN, Assistant Director of Emergency Services; John McLain, Starr Regional Medical Center CEO; Deborah Vaugh, RN, MSN, Starr Regional Medical Center CNO; Teddie Hambaugh, RN; Bill Hambaugh, Teddie’s husband; David Alley, Starr Regional Medical Center CFO; and Adrienne Webb, RN, Starr Regional Medical Center Quality Analyst and The DAISY Award coordinator.

Starr Regional Medical Center announced today that Teddie Hambaugh, RN, has been named the recipient of The DAISY Award for the first quarter of 2025. The DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses is a recognition program honoring “the super-human work nurses do for patients and families every day.” Nominations for the award may be submitted by anyone who experiences or observes extraordinary, compassionate care being provided by a nurse.

“It is always an honor to recognize and present The DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses™ to one of our amazing nurses at Starr Regional Medical Center. I especially am grateful for the opportunity to recognize Teddie for the compassion and care she provides our patients in the Emergency Department,” said Deborah Vaughn, RN, MSN, Chief Nursing Officer at Starr Regional Medical Center. “Teddie is just as the award states – extraordinary. Her commitment to being a champion for patient care and acting with kindness is evident not only to the patient and family who nominated her for the award, but also to those of us who have the privilege of working with her.”

Hambaugh, who provides patient care in the Emergency Department (ED), was nominated by a patient’s family member who praised her for her attentiveness and kindness during an extended wait in the ED: “When Teddie came on duty Monday morning we again expressed how cold it was [in the room]. She immediately went and found a heater to warm up the bed and then the room. Although my husband wasn’t admitted until 4:00 Monday, the presence of the heater and Teddie’s attentiveness certainly improved the waiting time greatly.”

In addition to the Emergency Department, Hambaugh has worked in the medical and surgical unit, labor and delivery unit, surgery and The Surgery Center, and served as a nursing supervisor throughout her nursing career at Starr Regional.

The DAISY Award honorees are selected by a committee of nurses at Starr Regional Medical Center who thoroughly review and consider each nomination. The presentation of the award is a surprise and takes place in the presence of the nurse's colleagues, patients, and visitors. Each honoree receives a certificate commending her or him for being an "Extraordinary Nurse." The certificate reads: "In deep appreciation of all you do, who you are, and the incredibly meaningful difference you make in the lives of so many people." Honorees are also given a sculpture called “A Healer's Touch,” which is hand-carved by artists of the Shona Tribe in Africa.

The not-for-profit DAISY Foundation, based in Glen Ellen, Calif., was established by family members in memory of J. Patrick Barnes, who died at the age of 33 in late 1999 from complications of Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (ITP), a little-known but not uncommon auto-immune disease. The care Barnes and his family received from nurses while he was ill inspired this unique means of thanking nurses for making a profound difference in the lives of their patients and patient families. For more information about the DAISY Foundation, visit DAISYFoundation.org.

If you would like to nominate a nurse for the DAISY Award, forms are available in the hospital common areas as well as the nursing units on Starr Regional Medical Center's Athens and Etowah campuses. Nomination forms may also be found online at StarrRegional.com/daisy-award. The DAISY Award program is open to nurses only, such as LPNs, RNs, and nurse practitioners. If non-nurses receive a nomination, they will be recognized separately from The DAISY Award program.