Dana Olvera.

MOULTRIE, Ga. — Recently, Dana Olvera, RN, became one of a growing number of Southern Regional Technical College nursing graduates to be awarded the prestigious Daisy Award for her exemplary work in the intensive care unit at Colquitt Regional Medical Center.

The Daisy Award is unique in that it recognizes and honors nurses who show extraordinary compassion towards their patients, according to a press release from Southern Regional Tech.

“This year, Dana went the extra mile for a patient and her family, so much so that they felt led to nominate her for the Daisy Award,” SRTC said. “The patient’s sister told the story of how Dana came in on her day off just to transport the patient out into the Kate Jeter Garden at Colquitt Regional Medical Center. She knew that her patient had not been able to enjoy fresh air and sunshine in weeks and just wanted to brighten her day. She also put in extra work at home to try to help diagnose a persistent and elusive medical issue, and then continued to follow up and check in on the family even after the patient had been discharged from Colquitt Regional.

“Dana has truly been a blessing to our family,” the grateful family member said, in summing up how Olvera had come to be a special part of their experience at Colquitt Regional.

For Olvera, being able to deliver that kind of care is why she enjoys nursing.

“I love helping people,” she said. “When people go to the hospital, they are usually feeling their worst, having a bad day, get bad news etc… If I can do something to make it just a little easier for them, it makes my day. Helping them forget about whatever they are going through for a little bit means everything to me.”

Before becoming a nurse, Olvera had worked at Colquitt Regional as a financial counselor and interpreter, SRTC said.

“In that role, people started noticing how great she was with people, and began encouraging her to consider nursing,” the school reported.

It was her own sister that finally convinced her to take a leap of faith and begin attending SRTC.

“Out of the blue my sister called me and told me she was registering for school to become an LPN,” Olvera said. “I told her to register me and I would go with her!”

She graduated as an LPN in 2009, but she didn’t stop there. She earned her Associate of Science in Nursing at SRTC in 2015, and she is currently pursuing her bachelor’s and master’s degrees.

Olvera is in good company at Colquitt Regional, with more than a dozen nurses receiving the award at the Moultrie hospital, several of them having graduated from SRTC, the college said.

Southern Regional Technical College’s Associate of Science in Nursing program has grown again this year, adding more than 40 new ASN students on the Moultrie campus alone for the Fall 2017 semester, it reported.