A DAISY Award for Cora Zink

After obstetric nurse Cora Zink assisted with an emergency that resulted in a traumatic Cesarean delivery, she noticed she had become uncomfortable working a C-section.  

What did Cora do? She volunteered for every C-section that was scheduled, even coming in on her days off. It seems every baby born at Asante Three Rivers in the past year saw Cora the moment they popped out of their mama’s womb.  

Recently, the same obstetric emergency occurred again. Cora was on shift. She had to overcome not only the usual terrified feeling that comes when a baby’s life is on the line, but also flashbacks from her earlier experience.  

“Cora rocked it!” wrote coworker Sandra Cole in Cora’s DAISY Award nomination. “She helped that baby get Earthside safely. I am so proud of her for taking what scared her, and instead of running away, diving headfirst into it.” All the extra time Cora put in — making C-sections second nature, making sure her hard memories wouldn’t compromise patient care — have paid off for our patients and their families. 

“They don’t know how many hours and how many tears Cora worked through to become a nurse who could perform so well under pressure,” Sandra wrote. Today, Cora has become, “one of the best C-section nurses we have.”  

Thank you, Cora, for showing us how to turn our fears into strength!  

What is the DAISY Award? The DAISY Foundation was established in 1999 in honor of Patrick Barnes, who died in Seattle of idiopathic thrombocytopenia purpura. His parents created the DAISY Foundation (DAISY is an acronym for diseases attacking the immune system) to recognize nurses for the exceptional care they provided their son during his illness. Hospitals across the country have since adopted the program. To find out more about the program, including the list of partners, please go to daisyfoundation.org. 

To nominate an Asante nurse for the DAISY Award, please visit asante.org/patients-visitors/daisy-award/