Chamberlain Grad Wins Awards for Extraordinary Nursing

Chamberlain graduate Tess Fareri, RN, BSN, is the kind of nurse that patients and families remember long after their hospital stay. Her compassionate and caring approach has helped her stand out as an extraordinary nurse, for which she's won two highly-respected awards within her first 18 months as an RN.

The DAISY Award

In Phoenix, AZ, Tess Fareri made a lasting impression on a family of an infant girl, Kendall, who was admitted for a long stay in the Cardiac ICU at Phoenix Children's Hospital. Fareri, a March 2011 graduate of Chamberlain's BSN program at the Phoenix campus, was the child’s primary nurse.

Throughout Kendall's stay in the hospital, her family was touched by Fareri’s dedication and compassion, not only to Kendall, but to their family as well. Because of her outstanding efforts, they nominated her for the DAISY Award. Kendall's grandparents wrote: "Tess has been with us from the beginning," they said. "Her genuine care for my granddaughter has been evident from the very start of our journey... Our entire family has been treated with respect and kindness from Tess. She has made our very hard situation a bit easier because of her caring and competent manner... Most importantly to us, she grew to love our granddaughter. PCH should be very proud to have her on staff; she is an asset to your institution."

The DAISY Award was created by the DAISY Foundation to recognize nurses who demonstrate not only medical proficiency, but exhibit a high level of caring and compassion. Families of patients can nominate nurses for the award, and coworkers can nominate a deserving colleague, as well.

The March of Dimes Nurse of the Year Rising Star Award 

Fareri also earned the much-sought-after March of Dimes Nurse of the Year Rising Star award in August 2013. Nurses are qualified for nomination if they have been practicing for less than 18 months and deliver the highest standard of care to their patients. She was nominated by both her manager and her educator at Phoenix Children's Hospital for her continuing compassion and competence while caring for patients and their families.

The same day she passed her CCRN exam, Fareri learned she was one of three finalists for the award, and was invited to attend the March of Dimes Nurse of the Year Gala. "Phoenix Children's [Hospital] was able to offer me a table at the gala," she said. "So, I brought my educator, manager, CNO, fiance, and my parents. My parents flew to Arizona from Pennsylvania for the gala which was amazing... Then I won my category! It is an amazing honor! My manager put up a big sign on the unit announcing my win. It is still hanging and my coworkers can sign it."

Alexander Woodruff, Fareri’s manager at Phoenix Children's Hospital, holds her in high regard. "Tess won her DAISY Award and her March of Dimes Award," he said, "because she has the innate ability to combine the art of caring with a drive to provide first-class care. In her short career, Tess has established herself as an expert in her field, but never loses sight of the value of the personal touch that families find so reassuring and beneficial. She is establishing herself as a leader and I foresee a bright future for her. I will keep her in my team for as long as I can, but her potential within the nursing field is limitless. She will reach heights that few others will attain.”

Background

Fareri, RN, BSN, CCRN, was a member of the third class to graduate from Chamberlain's Phoenix, AZ, location, and had this to say about the staff:

“I did two years of nursing school in Pennsylvania, and then moved out here,” she said. “I met with the admissions people, and they were amazing. They got back to me in one day. Because of them, I was able to get everything set up really quickly.”

Six months before graduation, she started working at Phoenix Children’s Hospital as a patient care technician, and then got a nursing job there immediately following graduation.

As an alumna, she still visits Chamberlain’s Phoenix campus. “I still get to go to Chamberlain’s local campus because they opened up their simulation lab for Phoenix Children’s Hospital. We go there with some of our physicians and we do simulations of codes or strokes, those kinds of things, so I still get to use their facility. It’s kind of cool to see how the school has grown.... Since I graduated, the school has added sophisticated labs. It’s really amazing.”

By David Hall