DAISY AWARD WINNER
Congratulations to NMCRS Visiting Nurse Susan McKelvey, BSN, RN, IBCLC, our 2024 honoree for The DAISY Award® For Extraordinary Nurses! “I firmly believe that this Visiting Nurse played a huge part in saving my husband’s life and saving my family.”- DAISY Award® nomination patient quote.
We're so thankful to everyone who took the time to send in nominations, and we are honored to witness our Visiting Nurses' incredible work for Sea Service families!
Read the full story here-
DAISY STORY
The NMCRS Visiting Nurse Program is a proud partner of The Daisy Foundation™, an organization with a recognition program honoring and recognizing nurses for their exceptional work!
This year, NMCRS Groton Visiting Nurse Susan McKelvey, BSN, RN, IBCLC, was honored with The DAISY AWARD ® For Extraordinary Nurses. This award is part of the DAISY Foundation’s™ efforts to recognize nurses' incredible work.
During a special visit to Naval Submarine Base, New London, Susan McKelvey was presented with the award by Rosemary Perdue, MSN, RN, Capt., Nurse Corps, USN (Ret.) Director of the Visiting Nurse Program during National Nurses Week.
“I’ve had the great opportunity of being an NMCRS Visiting Nurse for 22 years. This role has allowed me to directly impact military families when they are most vulnerable and in need of nursing care.” said Susan McKelvey, recipient of The DAISY AWARD® for Extraordinary Nurses 2024.
This is the second year that NMCRS participated in this award program. “As Director of Nursing, I am thrilled to embark on our second year of partnership with the DAISY Foundation™. It's truly heartwarming to read the stories of how our Visiting Nurses are positively impacting the lives of our patients. What's most significant is the emphasis on the patient's voice, allowing their experiences to shine.” said Rosemary Perdue, MSN, RN, Capt., Nurse Corps, USN (Ret.) Director of the Visiting Nurse Program.
During the DAISY® Award nomination process, stories and testimonials were collected from NMCRS Visiting Nurse clients, and a committee was formed to pick the awardee. The committee anonymously selected the client’s story based on its impact.
The selected nomination submitted read:
“Last year, this Visiting Nurse made the biggest difference for my family. My husband is an active duty sailor in the U.S. Navy. Shortly after returning from a deployment at the end of 2022, my husband began dealing with some significant mental health issues that he had very successfully hidden from me for a long time.
When it became too much for him to stuff down, I asked him to seek help through the Command Chaplain, Embedded Mental Health on the Waterfront, and our local base clinic. The care he was given through those outlets ranged from giving him a place where he could talk to someone who understood but could do little more than listen (our Chaplain), to some very frustrating conversations with military medical due to a lack of available providers and/or a lack of care and understanding when an active duty member had gone past rock bottom and couldn’t fight for themselves anymore. Also, the wait times for mental health professionals have grown exponentially in our local area. With my husband’s permission, I spoke with the NMCRS Visiting Nurse about my concerns as well as others in his situation. She offered up a wealth of knowledge and resources. It was like she had a personal Yellow Pages directory in her brain.
My husband courageously admitted to daily fighting with thoughts of ending his own life, just to be met with, “There’s nothing I can do; the next available appointment is in 9 weeks,” or “If you can’t wait six weeks, you’ll need to find someone else or go to the hospital.” He flat out refused to go to the off-base ER, and said it was because we have had many friends who had done that and just had medications thrown at them. Many don’t know this, but most medications used to treat mental health can cause a sailor to be submarine disqualified, and even taking them once or filling the prescription can cause a permanent loss of the position they’ve worked so hard to earn, especially in the nuclear field, to which my husband has given almost 20 years of his life.
While helping my husband through all of this, I found that many military medical professionals are either unfamiliar with or unaware of the restrictions outlined in these documents. This Visiting Nurse knew about the restrictions and gave us advice about what to do and what questions to ask. She gave us lists of providers to call and started with local therapists and offices. Unfortunately, scheduling didn’t line up the way we needed it to, and some were not taking on new active duty patients due to the type of insurance we have. We had to start all over. I felt like my whole world was crashing down on me and that my husband had been abandoned by the community he had given everything to. The nurse was a constant for us. She made sure we knew she was around for anything we needed.
Embedded Mental Health found a provider for my husband, but unfortunately, it would require him to drive over an hour and a half away each way three times a week to talk to a therapist while he was having thoughts of using his vehicle as a way to end his life. I relayed the information to the Visiting Nurse, who provided multiple viable resources with immediate availabilities for us to look into both virtually and in person. The Visiting Nurse ensured we had the support we needed to help him get better. Due to the Visiting Nurse’s support and guidance, my husband found the right provider and receives the ongoing treatment he needs. She also provided me with resources for myself and our child as well as a safe space to vent and cry when I needed to—and I needed to frequently.
I firmly believe that this Visiting Nurse played a huge part in saving my husband’s life and saving my family. I could not ask for a more caring nurse for our community, and I am so thankful to her for all of the support she’s provided to us.”
(Story edited for clarity)
Navy and Marine Corps active duty, retirees, and their family members can rely on our visiting nurses to provide health education and answer their wellness questions. Our programs’ health education tailors to the military community’s unique challenges.
NMCRS is honored to have dedicated visiting nurses who make a difference in the lives of Sea Service families daily.
For more information about our Visiting Nurse Program, visit: https://www.nmcrs.org/our-services/visiting-nurses