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The DAISY Committee of Health Carousel Philippines Inc (HCPI) selected the DAISY Awardee for extra nursing students for the year 2022. There were 13 nominees from schools of nursing in the National Capital Region and Luzon and one was selected to receive the award based on the criteria set by the committee.
The DAISY awardee is Rydgel Reign Santos, a senior nursing student from the country’s premier university, the University of the Philippines, Manila. She received the DAISY Award during the orientation of freshman students of the college of nursing. She was surprised and was not expecting that she will have an award that day. She said that she is sharing the award with her batchmates and clinical instructors. “To the freshman students, this opportunity is one of the things you can have in the college of nursing, and to Health Carousel and DAISY Foundation, thank you very much for this prestigious award,” Santos said.
Rydgel said, “the story I shared was my experience from my Maternal and Child Nursing (MCN) course which was done in September 2021. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, our academic setup was forced to shift to an online modality which made handling clients even more difficult. I was challenged as to how I could actually help my pregnant client via telenursing because I knew that I was limited by only having Zoom meetings for interactions. However, I did my best to establish a good rapport with her and prepared extensive teaching materials for my health teaching regarding pregnancy, childbirth, and motherhood. About four months later, my pregnant client reached out to me via a social media application to thank me for all the help that I gave her during her pregnancy and childbirth journey. She updated me that she was able to successfully deliver her first baby via spontaneous vaginal delivery without any complications and that her pregnancy and childbirth experience was bearable and easier because of my guidance. Furthermore, she shared her experiences as a new mother which included breastfeeding problems. Even though I had already passed my MCN course by this time, I re-established my working relationship with my now postpartum client and also gave her health education on breastfeeding and motherhood. I feel honored and privileged to be in one of the professions that can have meaningful experiences with people like this and have a definitive impact on their lives. These moments constantly remind me of why I chose Nursing and why I am even more passionate about it today. In the UP College of Nursing, our motto is “Manus, Caput, Cor.” This is something that I strive to completely exercise and commit to heart as a nursing student - to have hands that extend help beyond what is expected, to have a mind that effectively utilizes the Nursing theories and concepts in providing care, and to have a heart that will ceaselessly give service willingly and unconditionally. The work we do as student nurses do not stop on paper. We are much more than that. Our help touches the lives of everyone we care for no matter how small, how far, or how long. The name of my client’s child is Reine, and she was named after me.”
Rydgel was also inducted by the Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing as a member of the Alpha Phi chapter. The awarding was attended by the Dean of the College of Nursing, Dean Sheila Bonito, and its Faculty and students, Co-Founder and Chairman of the Board of Health Carousel Philippines, and also a DAISY Coordinator, Ms. Connie Dela Cruz and Co-Founder of Health Carousel Philippines and DAISY Coordinator, Ms. Nyra Colinares.
*****The DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nursing Student is an ongoing project of Light The Way of Health Carousel, LLC to recognize nursing students. Our goal is to encourage more schools to participate in the coming years. By recognizing nursing students for the above and beyond compassion shown to patients and their families, we celebrate what it truly means to be a nurse. The Health Carousel is the International advocate of DAISY Foundation.
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