Barton Labor and Delivery Nurse Receives Daisy Award for Exceptional Care | South Lake Tahoe

Stephanie Clayton, a registered obstetric nurse at the Bartons Family Birthing Center, was selected as the winner of the DAISY Award for Exceptional Caregivers. The award recognizes the clinical skills and empathetic care nurses provide to deliver a superior experience to patients and their families. Clayton was nominated by a patient who received her medical assistance through two pregnancies at Barton Memorial Hospital.

Obstetricians and obstetricians have an important role in bringing new life safely into the world. The main tasks include monitoring the vital parameters not only of the expectant mother, but also of the unborn child and providing support during labor. Nurses provide support, trust, and encouragement throughout the process; the best nurses add to the already memorable experience.

“[Stephanie] was my nurse through a difficult pregnancy and two births at Barton. She goes well beyond what is expected of her and was especially helpful after my delivery when I needed help with breastfeeding, “said Lily Kirkhouse, a recent Clayton patient who submitted the nomination. “Her caring manner and ability to cater to all of her patients’ needs definitely makes her worthy of a DAISY Award!”

Clayton received her RN degree from the University of Memphis in Memphis, Tennessee and has been a nurse for 15 years. She ended up in Barton as a traveling nurse three and a half years ago; She loved the team and the atmosphere so much that she decided to stay. When not greeting Tahoe’s newest residents, Clayton loves to travel. Her passion for international backpacking enables her to immerse herself in other cultures, explore natural landscapes and ground herself in yoga and meditation retreats. Clayton has participated in international medical missions in Vietnam, Thailand and the Dominican Republic and looks forward to continuing this philanthropic work in the future.

“My favorite part of my job is meeting new people – patients and staff – every day and finding something like that that connects me with them,” said Clayton. “I am constantly learning from my patients and can observe the beauty of how every woman and every family experiences birth differently.”

Nurses can be nominated by patients and families, and the award winner is anonymously selected by a committee at Barton Health. As the DAISY Award winner, Clayton received a certificate, a DAISY Award pin, and a sculpture called A Healer’s Touch, hand-carved by artists from the Shona tribe of Zimbabwe. The awards are presented quarterly at festivities that are often attended by colleagues, patients and visitors of the award winner.

The DAISY Foundation is a non-profit organization founded to commemorate J. Patrick Barnes, who died in 1999 at the age of 33 of complications from an autoimmune disease (DAISY stands for Diseases Attacking the Immune System). The care that nurses gave Barnes and his family during his illness inspired this unique way of thanking nurses. Today this program has been implemented in more than 1,900 health facilities, including Barton Memorial Hospital.

To learn more and to nominate a nurse for the DAISY Award, visit BartonHealth.org/Daisy.

– Barton Health press release