Amanda Grace, RN, selected as DAISY Award recipient
CARTI’s extraordinary nurses go above and beyond to deliver the highest quality care to our patients – from analyzing charts to educating patients to providing a hand to hold in the hard moments. Founded in honor of the care received by J. Patrick Barnes, an ITP patient, the DAISY (Diseases Attacking the Immune SYstem) Award honors and celebrates the skillful, compassionate care nurses provide every day. CARTI is proud to recognize our very first DAISY Award recipient, Amanda Grace.
Amanda travels across the state, from El Dorado to Heber Spring, because taking care of people is her passion. Her experience and expertise make her technically skillful, and her years of caring for patients in all walks of life have been marked by loving, selfless care. Her coworkers praise her genuine empathy for patients, citing the way she celebrates victories with them, no matter how big or small. She stays after work to counsel patients, has raised funds to help them during treatment, and goes above and beyond to make sure they feel cared for.
This compassion doesn’t extend only to patients, either. Several coworkers who nominated Amanda noted her enthusiasm in helping and educating her fellow nurses. She has mentored many nurses during her 12 years at CARTI, setting a shining example for her team and for health care professionals everywhere. She practices many of CARTI’s values every day and has made an undeniable impact on countless patients, and CARTI is honored to name Amanda as a DAISY Award-winning nurse.
Amanda shares her story of what inspired her to become a nurse and the amazing journey she’s had across her career:
When I was 10 years old, I went to a church service where two missionaries visited and gave testimony of their life and service to God and others. One of those missionaries was a nurse and her stories of healing and hope in Honduras enraptured my young heart and from that moment on I knew that nursing was my destiny and that one day somehow, I would serve in missions. I went forward that day and dedicated my life to God and his calling of me to serve in the field of nursing.
My senior year of high school, I was involved in a head on collision with a drunk driver. The nurse who took care of me was so amazing. The doctors and nurses sewed on my face and put me back together little by little from 10 pm at night until 7 am the next morning. This further impressed on me a desire to serve in the medical field.
After graduating nursing school, I applied for a job and ended up with a position in Oncology which I did not even apply for. Once again, this was divine intervention in my life. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine I could love what I do so much and then I came to CARTI. A lifelong dream of mine has been to serve in missions and through CARTI I have been able to fulfill this dream right here at home. I do not have to leave the boundaries of my state in order to serve others. I am brought to those who are in need the most every week. It’s hard to imagine but there are people right here in Arkansas who are so sick that they can not travel for the lifesaving treatments that they need and I along with our collective amazing team at CARTI get to help bring that to them. The mission is right here at Home.
One of my favorite quotes is “A heart that loves is a heart that heals.” I believe that through the love of others and through Gods love that there is healing. Receiving the Daisy Award for compassionate care will be perhaps one the greatest pinnacles in my nursing career. I feel very humbled and honored to receive recognition for doing what I was called to do. I pray that I am able to continue to serve others with all of my heart and that God continues to use me as a vessel to show his love to all. “This is my commandment, that you love one another, as I have loved you.” John 15:12
Also, see our recap video from Nurses Week 2022 at CARTI:
Learn more about the renowned cancer specialists at CARTI and how this team works together to deliver the world’s most advanced forms of cancer care in a compassionate, patient-centered environment.
