Albany Night Shift Team Earns DAISY Award for Life-Saving Response June 10, 2026 Samaritan Albany General Hospital recently honored the Night Shift OB Emergency Response Team with a DAISY Team Award in recognition of their extraordinary teamwork and clinical expertise during a life-threatening obstetrical emergency. DAISY is an acronym for Diseases Attacking the Immune System. Presented by Jennifer Davis-Emmert, vice president of Patient Care Services, and Carrie Durkee, Women’s Center manager, the award recognized the emergency response team whose coordinated response helped save the life of a patient experiencing a severe complication following childbirth. In her nomination, Durkee highlighted the teamwork and dedication shown by caregivers from across the hospital: “I would like to recognize the outstanding night shift team that cared for an OB patient who had a severe complication of delivery, a uterine inversion earlier this year. Uterine inversion is a rare and life-threatening obstetrical emergency where the uterus turns partially or completely inside out after delivery and hemorrhages liters of blood in a very short amount of time. Providers must act fast to save the newly delivered patient’s life before they bleed out, go into shock and possibly die from the complication. “This patient in particular required an emergent surgical procedure to return her uterus to the correct anatomical position and remove the placenta fragments that remained attached afterward. She then needed copious amounts of blood products, requiring a Massive Transfusion Protocol to be called to keep up with all the blood she lost. All of this required a tremendous amount of people and resources. I want to call out the team that was here to help. “I am grateful for our skilled and dedicated OB team: doctors Leonel Trujillo, DO, and Shane Gjesdal, MD. Excellent and passionate OB nurses: Sara Wright, RN; Pam Haley-Nelson, RN; Donna Gillman, RN; and charge nurse Heidi Lewis, RN. I would also like to recognize OB Tech/CNA Rachael Hillard, who was a great help getting supplies and equipment to the nurses, taking blood and other specimens to the lab, and serving as an excellent communicator between the OR and the rest of the fourth floor while this event was happening. An expert, respectful and talented OR crew who came in on call to assist: Tyson Summers, CRNA; Debra Tilley, RN; Robyn Powers, RN; Katie Barr, RN; and Amanda Sandman, CSFA. Thanks to respiratory therapist Elsa Ruiz for assistance as well. For exceptional care throughout and during the MTP, I would like to recognize the Emergency Department and ICU-CCU nurses and hospitalist physician: Marisa Lunsmann, RN; Blaze Amodei, RN; Erika Lenz, RN; Sara Whyte, MD; and skilled phlebotomist Lionisia Phelps. “This entire team was instrumental in keeping this patient alive during this critical event, and I cannot thank them enough for all they did that night and continue to do every shift they work. Our hospital is a better and safer place because they are all a part of it. The patient and her family are so very grateful for you!” Durkee said the team’s care extended beyond the clinical response. “They not only saved her life, they also made sure she never felt alone,” Durkee said. “Someone was always by her ear and holding her hand, letting her know she was in good hands and that we had her. I really am in awe of this group, and we are so lucky to have them here.” All team members received a DAISY Team Award certificate and DAISY pin in recognition of their outstanding service and commitment to compassionate patient care. The DAISY Award was established by the family of J. Patrick Barnes to “honor the super-human work nurses do for patients and families every day wherever they practice, in whatever role they serve and throughout their careers, from student through a lifetime of achievement.” To learn more, visit DAISYfoundation.org. To nominate an extraordinary Samaritan nurse, go to samhealth.org/DAISY.
