◆ Angela Turner was nominated by her patient and friend.

According to The DAISY Award website, “Nurses are nominated by anyone in the organization – patients, family members, other nurses, physicians, other clinicians and staff – anyone who experiences or observes extraordinary compassionate care being provided by a nurse.”

To those close to her, this statement couldn’t be more true about Angela Turner, RN of Oncology and Infusion at Star Valley Health (SV Health), and winner of The DAISY Award this past January.

Turner was nominated by her friend and patient, Ginger Thompson.

Turner has known Thompson for a little over two years and expressed abundant praises saying, “We’ve become really good friends, I would consider her one of my dearest and closest friends.”

Within the nomination, Thompson said, “My typical infusion room is rather drab and boring, but not with Angela… She is attentive to my every need while I am there. She will get warm blankets, drinks, or other items that I may need… I have had some bad experiences with other people who have tried multiple times and left many marks. She has become a valued friend to me. She checks on me and is my biggest supporter in fighting this ugly disease. I am so thankful to have such an amazing nurse! SV Health is so lucky to have her.”

Turner was invited to attend a dinner with all the nominees, and laughed as she said “I was a little suspicious when Ginger and her family walked in and [no other nominees were] there.”

Ultimately, she received The DAISY Award and was given the Healer’s Touch Sculpture” (pictured). “It was a very sweet award. I was really touched by it.”

Turner has a very supportive group behind her and the efforts she puts forth in bringing the best services to oncology and infusion patients.

Kyle Roniger, Director of Nursing and Tori Probst, Chief Nursing Officer and Nursing Home Administrator are two of those who continue to support Turner and the Oncology and Infusion Center at Star Valley Health.

Probst has worked for Turner for two years and the very first thing she shared about Turner was, “She is a huge patient advocate.” Brobst commented on the focus Turner has, not just on the treatments, but the care of the patent. “She is able to build a rapport with the patients… and gets to know them on a personal level. She gets to know them as friends and treats them as such.”

Brobst shared a two-part focus their team has: 1) The science of Nursing and 2) The art of Nursing. She expressed the great balance Turner has of both these aspects and that she is very knowledgeable on the science side of her job as well as the qual- ity of care given and going the extra mile for patents and the department.

Kyle Roniger shared more about how deserving Turner is of The DAISY Award saying, “Angela is really dedicated to her patients.”

He shared that Turner is able to get to know her patients so well after seeing them regularly and putting care into everything she does.

“She truly cares about them as people and wants the best for them… She’s the perfect person to have in Oncology and Infusion.”

Roniger was able to attended the dinner when Turner received The DAISY Award and remembers seeing the family of Ginger Thompson show up. “It was awesome to see the care they had for each other. The family to Angela and Angela to that family.

“They can trust that [Thompson] is getting the best care because the person that’s doing her infusion is a friend.”

Turner, Probst, and Roniger each shared separate statements with the same focus; That people can stay in the valley for quality oncology and infusion care.

Turner stated, “We have many people being referred out of the valley, and they don’t need to go out of the valley for [care].” The team does not want community members to think they will have to travel for hours and hundreds of miles to get the care they need. The team said that the Oncology and Infusion Center continues to grow to help more and more people stay in the valley for the best treatments and have the best care.

SV Health also works with Intermountain Healthcare and doctors outside of the valley. Their website explains it best- “Our telehealth oncology is designed to support you and your loved ones on the road to recovery, allowing you to stay local while having access to specialized care.

“We’ve partnered with Intermountain Healthcare to offer telehealth oncology from our hospital. If you’re receiving chemotherapy at our Oncology and Infusion Center, you can also connect virtually with your oncologist while staying local in your fight against cancer.”

Learn more about the Star Valley Health Oncology and Infusion Center by going online at starvalleyhealth.org/services/cancer.

If you would like to learn more about The DAISY Award, visit www.DAISYfoundation.org.