Chris Wagar, a registered nurse at Lompoc Valley Medical Center (LVMC) has received the DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses.
The international honor is part of The DAISY Foundation’s mission to recognize the extraordinary, compassionate nursing care provided to patients and families every day.
Wagar was nominated by a patient who has stage 3 cirrhosis and is frequently hospitalized.
“Chris is one of the many nurses I feel has a genuine love and respect that comes naturally to him, giving patients like myself reassurance about how well I will be fairly cared for,” the nomination form stated. “He is thorough (and) completes med and other vital tasks required within the necessary time range.”
The patient noted that Wagar is able to answer questions about treatments, which the patient finds very helpful.
“He will go out of the way to try and keep you comfortable, knowledgeable and with a warm blanket,” the patient wrote.
Wagar as presented with the award last Thursday morning at the end of his shift, and was celebrated by members of the LVMC leadership team, medical-surgical coworkers and the Daisy nomination committee, which includes a range of clinical and non-clinical staff.
“Nurses like Chris stand out without having to on purpose,” the nomination noted. “It’s a gift not all people are blessed with and I feel very lucky to have him as part of the LVMC nursing family. It’s definitely a very awesome, well-trained team.”
Wagar earned his RN through Santa Barbara City College and was part of LVMC’s New Nurse Grad mentorship program. He has been with LVMC for more than 2 ½ years.
Wagar, who grew up in Chino, was previously a substitute teacher. He said he became a nurse because he desired a change in careers.
“It was stable and I felt like I could do it,” he said of nursing.
In addition to a certificate, Wagar received a DAISY Award pin and a sculpture called A Healer’s Touch, hand-carved by artists of the Shona Tribe in Zimbabwe.
The not-for-profit DAISY Foundation was established in memory of J. Patrick Barnes by members of his family and honors nurses for making a profound difference in the lives of their patients and patient families.
Barnes died in 1999 at the age of 33 from complications caused by ITP, or Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura, an auto-immune disease. DAISY is an acronym for Diseases Attacking the Immune System.
The foundation was inspired by the care Barnes and his family received from nurses while he was ill. LVMC nominations are reviewed by an internal committee of representatives from nursing, non-nursing and non-clinical departments.
More about the award is available at daisyfoundation.org.
To nominate a nurse at LVMC, Lompoc Health or the Comprehensive Care Center, see the nomination form at lompocvmc.com, under the Resources tab and Patient Feedback link.