DAISY award winner Amy Charles: 'I credit her with saving lives'

When other hospitals said it was too difficult to get outpatients actively contagious with COVID safely into the hospital to receive treatment, Amy Charles, manager of Ambulatory Infusion for the Wichita hospitals, figured out a way to do it. When the demand rose, Charles found a larger location and the staff needed to accommodate more patients. She also kept ahead of the evolving efficacy of the various monoclonal antibody therapies and adapted the practices of the COVID-19 Infusion Therapy Clinic accordingly.

Charles also made herself available on nights, weekends and early in the morning, says Maggie Hagan, MD, medical director for Infection Control for Ascension Via Christi's Wichita hospitals. "And she did all this with a very positive, can-do attitude."

All told, more than 1,600 COVID-19-positive patients at high risk for hospitalization and death were treated by Charles' and her team.

"In my mind, that means we prevented a large number of patients being hospitalized and dying, which in my mind means that Amy is responsible for saving a lot of lives," says Dr. Hagan, who nominated Charles for the Daisy Nurse Leader award that she recently received in a surprise presentation. "It was a community need that was really needed at the time that was not easy to do or figure out, but Amy did it. I credit her with saving many lives."

The DAISY Nurse Leader award was created by the DAISY Foundation to recognize leaders who create a workplace where compassionate care thrives and nurses can deliver high quality care.

The DAISY Foundation was established in 1999 by the family of Patrick Barnes, who died at age 33. The Barnes family created their national foundation to recognize nurses, like the ones who cared for Patrick, for their kindness, compassion and service to their patients. "DAISY" stands for Diseases Attacking the Immune System.