05/13/2026
RFGH is pleased to announce our newest DAISY Foundation award recipient, Rebekah Shankar!
The DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses was created in memory of J. Patrick Barnes who died at 33 of ITP, an auto-immune disease. The Barnes Family was awestruck by the clinical skills, caring, and compassion of the nurses who cared for Patrick, so they created this international award to say thank you to nurses everywhere.
Rebekah is a dedicated RFGH employee working in our Oncology Department who truly models our cores values.
Rebekah’s nomination:
Rebekah has been a calming force, a supportive ear, and a kind heart through the absolute most difficult journey of my life.
My teenage son was diagnosed with testicular cancer in July and to say that my family and I were overwhelmed would be a complete understatement. Despite having been in health care for close to three decades, oncology was its own world about which I knew very little.
As days flew by at the start of my son's care, panic often gripped my heart as I feared the worst for my child. We learned of his diagnosis on a Monday and he was in an operating room for the first of several procedures just two days later. So much information was given to us and making sense of it all was difficult.
On a day when I was expecting tests to provide me reassurance, I misunderstood what the expectation was and was trying to keep myself together when I called oncology for help. Rebekah was very kind on the phone but beyond being kind, her perception of how scared I was became evident when she walked down to the unit I work in to try to clarify and help me understand what was happening. She facilitated having a provider call me and help me further understand what to expect, thus settling my anxiety.
A few weeks later, my son began his treatment in oncology. Our family was quite frankly terrified not knowing how my son would react to the chemotherapy and scared of what side effects he would experience. Having known Rebekah for several years I was hopeful that I would see her on his first day of chemotherapy but found out that she would be on vacation. As I walked onto the chemotherapy unit and saw her smiling face at me, I was overwhelmed with gratitude that somebody would change plans with their family knowing that her presence would make our day a little bit easier. My son knew how I felt about having her there and the relief of seeing her helped him through that first day as well.
While we came to love all of the staff in oncology, Rebekah continued to shine for us in every interaction. She never made us feel like she was rushing through my son's care. She would sit and talk with our family, distracting all of us from what we were going through and making the time pass more quickly. During one of these conversations my son talked about bagels and cream cheese being food that he enjoyed. Before his next visit, Rebekah stopped at a bagel shop she loves and brought him homemade cream cheese and fresh bagels.
It is incredibly challenging to try to describe how special it makes you feel to have someone be so kind to your child who is battling cancer!
Rebekah always engaged us in the care she was providing. She patiently educated my son and praised him when he was able to demonstrate how well he understood all that she was teaching him.
Unfortunately throughout the journey there were huge stumbling blocks. My son was hospitalized twice with infections and twice Rebekah, as well as several other staff members from oncology, checked on him in his inpatient unit. My son knew that all of the staff who came to visit him in his inpatient room did so because they wanted to, not because they had to.
Finally, the last day of chemotherapy came. Our family was so happy to be closing this chapter of the cancer care. Rebekah was again not scheduled to work. But again, Rebekah was there waiting to greet us when we arrived!! She and many other staff members had planned a small celebration for my son. There were balloons, sweet treats, more bagels and cream cheese, and lots of smiles. Rebekah stayed through this last treatment so that she could be witness to my son ringing the bell that signified his chemotherapy was complete.
I am not positive that I've captured enough of how supported my family felt by Rebekah. I feel that Rebekah embodies a Daisy award recipient. She completely went above and beyond daily nursing expectations multiple times throughout the months we were receiving care in oncology.
Though I already knew it, seeing her in oncology reinforced that she is an amazing and intelligent nurse. Beyond that, she is a wonderfully kind human being whose compassion and dedication to her patients deserves to be recognized.
The DAISY award at RFGH is made possible through the generosity of Purdue Global. If you have received extraordinary nursing care while at RFGH, you may submit a nomination at https://lnkd.in/evbGTMUE
Please join us in congratulating Rebekah on this amazing and well deserved honor!
