Extraordinary Nurse Ashli Duncan Honored for Compassionate Care

MARYVILLE – Recovery and Postpartum Nurse, Ashli Duncan, RN, of Anderson Hospital’s Pavilion for Women was recently honored with The DAISY Award® For Extraordinary Nurses. The award is part of the DAISY Foundation's programs to recognize the super-human efforts nurses perform every day.

The nomination submitted read:

“I had just given birth the evening before. Baby girl was Coombs positive and woke up extremely jaundiced and frighteningly lethargic. I couldn't get her to wake up to breastfeed like she had the night before. This was an incredibly stressful time as we were told the only way to flush the bilirubin was to feed baby. So I spent the long, agonizing day trying, unsuccessfully, to get baby to feed. For hours and hours I worked with the lactation consultant, blew on baby's face, and rubbed cold wipes on her naked body trying to wake her for long enough that I could shove my breast into her mouth. My milk wasn't in and baby was so lethargic even if we got a latch she immediately fell back asleep. I cried the whole day and tried not to think about the pain. Breast feeding was so important to me and this was not how this was supposed to go. The thought of giving baby girl formula was devastating as the lactation consultant, my breastfeeding class instructor, and everyone on the internet told me I'd be risking nipple confusion and that we’d never be able to breastfeed. After a horrible day, morale was as low as it could be, tensions were extremely high, we were full of questions, and I was in an incredibly vulnerable and scared place. Then, Ashli walked in the room. She was our ray of light in a very dark time. She walked in and sprang into action and almost immediately changed everything for us.

"She so calmly, without judgement, walked me through how we could offer Baby formula and showed me how to start pumping so my milk would still come in and explained we would also give Baby any colostrum I pumped. She encouraged me and reassured me with such warmth, empathy, and kindness that we could still breastfeed successfully once my milk came in and that giving her formula now wouldn't ruin our chances to successfully breastfeed in the future. She told me how she went through something similar when her daughter was born and could relate to what we were going through and told me I was doing a good job. She made the decision to give Baby formula feel so much easier. Ashli gave me everything I needed in that moment and helped me feel at peace with giving her formula. Ashli again saved me the following night.

"I was an emotional wreck while watching my tiny, sick, baby startle over and over all alone in the light box. It was incredibly hard to just watch and hear Baby hitting the sides of box with her outstretched arms like she felt like she was falling while she was blindfolded in the light box all night long. I just wanted to hold her. It was really hard. Ashli held my hand and assured me baby girl was going to be okay. I trusted Ashli and knew she was right. I think about Ashli every single day and I tear up writing this now thinking about how bad things were before she walked in the door and then how quickly she made everything feel okay again. Despite writing a novel here, I worry I am not doing her justice in writing this—it’s hard to explain in words what a profound impact she had on us. I cannot overstate how much she deserves this award as well as everything good in life. Ashli, I don't know how we can ever thank you enough.”

The not-for-profit DAISY Foundation is based in Glen Ellen, CA, and was established by family members in memory of J. Patrick Barnes. Patrick 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 Patrick 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.

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