MARSHFIELD — Melissa Stini, a registered nurse in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, was the latest at Ministry Saint Joseph’s Hospital (MSJH) to receive the DAISY award for extraordinary nurses. The award is given monthly to nurses who consistently demonstrate excellence through their clinical expertise and extraordinary, compassionate care. They are recognized as outstanding role models in the hospital’s nursing community.

Stini started at MSJH as a certified nursing assistant on 6 North in 2008. She graduated from UW-Eau Claire in 2011 and started as an RN in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) in 2012 and has been there since. Stini is married and has a 16-month-old son.

The following story was submitted by the parents of a recent patient for whom Melissa cared:

We would like to nominate Melissa for this award for a number of reasons. Most notably, she and another nurse made the right decisions at the right time to save our son’s life after he had an event during his stay in the PICU. He was one of triplets.

Our son was on the ventilator and had aspirated. This blocked the tube, limiting oxygen flow. They made a quick decision to pull out the tube, call code (to get the right people there quickly), bag him, and start chest compressions until he was able to get a new tube in place. Because of their quick response, extensive training, and experience, this critical situation was resolved very quickly. But it’s not just her extensive skillset as an intensive care nurse. What sets her apart from many others is her soft and loving personality. She truly has a heart of gold.

Having identical triplets all in the hospital at the same time presents a great number of challenges for us as parents. Especially difficult is choosing to leave them behind each night when we go home with our 20-month-old daughter. Melissa is the type of person you would trust with your own life and with the care of your children. Knowing that she was standing watch gave us a little more comfort through the night. She truly treated every one of our boys like her own.

It warms our heart to know that such an amazingly caring person can react in such emergent situations, stay calm and perform the appropriate tasks, and be the warmest individual you have ever met. She has made our time here feel like we are with family.

Also nominated were registered nurses Allie Dryer, PICU; Nichole King, Critical Care; Stephanie Hill, Pediatrics; and Brian Blodgett, Critical Care Resource Pool.

The nonprofit DAISY Foundation—DAISY is an acronym for Diseases Attacking the Immune System—was established by family members in memory of J. Patrick Barnes. Barnes died in 1999 at age 33 from complications of idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, a little-known but not uncommon autoimmune disease. The care Barnes and his family received inspired this unique means of thanking nurses for making a profound difference in the lives of their patients and patients’ families.

The honorees receive a certificate commending outstanding clinical care and a designation of being an “Extraordinary Nurse.” They are also given a sculpture called “A Healer’s Touch,” hand-carved by artists of the Shona Tribe in Africa.