From staff reports
Independence Day is a day of celebration, cookouts and fireworks. Sparklers. Beach trips. Red, white and blue.
On the patriotic holiday this year, however, Mike Olmstead went into cardiac arrest, his wife Tammy said, at their home in Beaufort. She immediately began chest compressions, but it wasn’t long before she knew she couldn’t do it alone.
She ran to her next-door neighbor’s house, desperate for help.
That help came in the form of Beaufort Memorial cath lab nurse Nancy Morrison, who had the day off and was enjoying the holiday.
“Her knowledge and experience took over,” Tammy recalled. “She never let up. She never stopped looking out for us.”
Nancy continued compressions, and her husband Marvin called 911. When the ambulance arrived, Tammy was in shock, and Morrison recognized the signs immediately, staying “calm, cool and collected” the entire time.
“They thought that was my last ride,” Mike said. “Nancy kept going and going and going until the paramedics got there. I can’t even fathom what was going through her head, but she did an amazing, amazing job.”
Afterward, Morrison helped Tammy gather her things to take to the hospital and drove her there herself.
Morrison, who has been a part of the Beaufort Memorial family for 18 years – working at the hospital’s Cochrane Heart Center for six – is the charge nurse and preceptor to new nurses in the department.
Beaufort Memorial Cardiovascular/Pulmonary Services Director Sharon Shupe, MSN, RN, said that Morrison has a “great sense of humor” that she often uses to alleviate her patients’ anxieties.
“She is always kind, thoughtful and compassionate, and always determined to do what is best for the patient,” Sharon added. “She makes a difference in the lives of her patients and their families with her exceptional care and skills.”
Morrison received the prestigious DAISY Award in a small surprise ceremony at the Heart Center on Dec. 2, a “thank you” for her unwavering commitment – on the clock or off – to lifesaving, compassionate care.
“For Nancy, nursing is more than a career,” Shupe said. “It is a lifestyle that doesn’t stop at the end of her shift.”
During the emotional award presentation, Morrison embraced Mike and Tammy as they thanked her once again.
“I would have done it anyway,” Morrison said, “I never expected this. Mike is a miracle; everything fell into the right place at the right time.”
With his near-death experience this summer, Mike says he has a new outlook and is approaching every day like it could be his last.
“This taught me a lot of lessons about how to look at life and how to treat people,” he said. “Nancy just went so far above and beyond. I can never thank her enough or repay her. I’m here because of what she did.”
Developed in 1999 by a Seattle couple to honor the nurses who took care of their dying son, the DAISY Award has since been adopted by health care facilities all over the world.
Anyone can nominate a Beaufort Memorial nurse for the honor. Applications are available throughout the hospital and at BeaufortMemorial.org/DAISY.
