San Juan Regional Health

San Juan Regional Medical Center is proud to announce two more DAISY® Award winners. 

Jason Aikele is a nurse in the Cardiac Cath Lab who goes above and beyond, not only in the care he provides to patients, but also in the Team Accountability he displays to his fellow caregivers. He is always willing to pick up extra shifts wherever needed and has covered 228 hours above his requirements in the Cath Lab in multiple other units since January. He relieves coworkers so they can take a lunch and serves as a clinical coach for nurses who are new to our organization. One example of his thoughtfulness is when he noticed the fish tank in pediatrics was green. He took it upon himself to come back and clean the tank completely and even offered to help pick out a new fish tank and set it up when pediatrics moved to its newly renovated location. “Jason’s selfless personality and dedication to his peers and patients at SJRMC holds to the highest standards of nursing care and SJRMC’s core values,” Cardiac Cath Lab Manager Terry Chapman said. 

“I appreciate the recognition,” Aikele said. “I like working with the people, the team. There are people that care here and that is why I became a nurse – to help others.”  

Jason Aikele receiving his DAISY® Award

The second DAISY® Award recipient is Jenny Okumura, an ICU nurse. Jenny was the primary nurse for a young patient whose progressive weakness had made her unable to walk or care for herself. Even though she had an extremely busy patient load, with multiple emergencies throughout the unit, she took the time to ask for help to get her patient to the bathroom to give her some privacy and a sense of normalcy. “This may seem like a very trivial or basic task, but to me, it was above and beyond. It would have been very easy for Jenny to coax her patient into using the bedside commode or bedpan. It would have been easy for Jenny to tell her patient, ‘I'm sorry, I'm too busy right now.’ It would have been easy for Jenny to call Physical or Occupational Therapy and try to delegate this task. But Jenny doesn't take the easy way out. Jenny advocates for her patient's needs,” said Assistant ICU Manager Morgan VerHaar. “Sometimes it is the littlest things that make the most impact.”

“Critical care has not always been my specialty. It was something I jumped blindly into a few years ago. The ICU team took me under their wing and has always made me feel at home. We have been through the thick of it together. I value everyone here and everything we get to learn from each other,” Okumura said. 

ICU celebration for Jenny Okumura’s DAISY® Award

Thank a nurse today by nominating them for a DAISY