May 20, 2019 at 12:09AM
May 19, 2019
Lacy Harness, middle, listens as Linda Wessic, right, presents Harness with the Monna Linne award on May 8. To the left is Melinda Linville, the recipient of the 2019 Excellence in Nursing Leadership award.
By ROSS FLINT - rflint@shelbynews.com
When Lacy Harness started working at MHP Medical Center in 2010, she had no ambition of being a nurse.
At the time, Harness, who was named the recipient of the 2019 Monna Linne Award during the May 8 Nurses Awards Ceremony, was working in the customer service industry. When she arrived at Major Hospital, the mantra "Major Hospital is the major difference" appealed to her.
She wanted to work for a company that believed in that ideology.
Coming to the hospital changed her life.
"Seeing that intimate connection and seeing how you're able to touch a life and how a life is able to touch yours and be able to care for people at their most vulnerable moments and to be able to make those connections not only with the patients but with the families, it's just such a fulfilling workforce," she said Thursday of the nursing profession. "You come to work everyday and you don't know what to expect. Every day is different and every day is a lesson in life and humility and all of that."
Harness serves as the MHP diabetes program coordinator and took over as coordinator for the entire disease management department.
Winning the Monna Linne Award, named after the longtime nurse who worked at the hospital for 43 years, was unexpected, she said.
"It's very humbling because Monna Linne stood for everything that is kind of the epitome of nursing," she said. "She was kind and she was a great teacher. She was a great patient advocate, and so to be able to be a part of carrying on her legacy, it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and I think it's something that all nurses strive for."
Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Linda Wessic said during the ceremony that Harness is completing her master's degree in health administration. She said Harness cares about both her patients and her co-workers, calling her a "full-service type of girl."
"It's hard to point to anybody that has a stronger, true passion for the work that they do than Lacy," she said. "It's obvious and it's evident that she cares about the people she serves."
Harness described helping her patients as "the best feeling in the world."
A lot of prayer is involved and there's a human connection to her patients that she gives to them, and they give back.
"You celebrate with the patients, you grieve with the patients, you really are their biggest cheerleaders and their supporters, especially patients who may not have that support system at home," she said, adding that that is a strength at the hospital. "We kind of all try together to be a complete support system for the patients, where we have the social workers, the nursing staff, the providers, and we just kind of pick these patients up as a team and carry them."
She is passionate about helping patients with diabetes about how difficult the disease is to live with.
She is able to connect with the patients under difficult circumstances, Wessic said. She approaches her patients at a level that is appreciated and doesn't embarrass them.
"She makes you feel like, 'Hey, I can do this. I think I can manage this new diagnosis or this issue that I've got to deal with now,'" Wessic said. "That's a special connection she has."
May 19, 2019
Lacy Harness, middle, listens as Linda Wessic, right, presents Harness with the Monna Linne award on May 8. To the left is Melinda Linville, the recipient of the 2019 Excellence in Nursing Leadership award.
By ROSS FLINT - rflint@shelbynews.com
When Lacy Harness started working at MHP Medical Center in 2010, she had no ambition of being a nurse.
At the time, Harness, who was named the recipient of the 2019 Monna Linne Award during the May 8 Nurses Awards Ceremony, was working in the customer service industry. When she arrived at Major Hospital, the mantra "Major Hospital is the major difference" appealed to her.
She wanted to work for a company that believed in that ideology.
Coming to the hospital changed her life.
"Seeing that intimate connection and seeing how you're able to touch a life and how a life is able to touch yours and be able to care for people at their most vulnerable moments and to be able to make those connections not only with the patients but with the families, it's just such a fulfilling workforce," she said Thursday of the nursing profession. "You come to work everyday and you don't know what to expect. Every day is different and every day is a lesson in life and humility and all of that."
Harness serves as the MHP diabetes program coordinator and took over as coordinator for the entire disease management department.
Winning the Monna Linne Award, named after the longtime nurse who worked at the hospital for 43 years, was unexpected, she said.
"It's very humbling because Monna Linne stood for everything that is kind of the epitome of nursing," she said. "She was kind and she was a great teacher. She was a great patient advocate, and so to be able to be a part of carrying on her legacy, it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and I think it's something that all nurses strive for."
Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Linda Wessic said during the ceremony that Harness is completing her master's degree in health administration. She said Harness cares about both her patients and her co-workers, calling her a "full-service type of girl."
"It's hard to point to anybody that has a stronger, true passion for the work that they do than Lacy," she said. "It's obvious and it's evident that she cares about the people she serves."
Harness described helping her patients as "the best feeling in the world."
A lot of prayer is involved and there's a human connection to her patients that she gives to them, and they give back.
"You celebrate with the patients, you grieve with the patients, you really are their biggest cheerleaders and their supporters, especially patients who may not have that support system at home," she said, adding that that is a strength at the hospital. "We kind of all try together to be a complete support system for the patients, where we have the social workers, the nursing staff, the providers, and we just kind of pick these patients up as a team and carry them."
She is passionate about helping patients with diabetes about how difficult the disease is to live with.
She is able to connect with the patients under difficult circumstances, Wessic said. She approaches her patients at a level that is appreciated and doesn't embarrass them.
"She makes you feel like, 'Hey, I can do this. I think I can manage this new diagnosis or this issue that I've got to deal with now,'" Wessic said. "That's a special connection she has."