TUPELO, Miss.—North Mississippi Medical Center has awarded its most recent DAISY Award to Kelli Deaton of Pediatrics and the BEE (Beyond Exceptional Expectations) Award to Patsy Archie of Respiratory Therapy.

Deaton, a registered nurse, and Archie, a respiratory therapist, were nominated by the grandmother of a young boy who was recently a patient on the Pediatrics unit, where parents are the only visitors currently allowed. “Kelli and Patsy were very attentive to his needs,” his grandmother wrote. “We were constantly Facetiming his parents, and they were always there soothing him with his favorite show’s theme songs on their phones.  Although he was intubated and sedated, you could tell that what she was doing made a huge difference. It helped us as grandparents knowing he was receiving awesome care since we were not allowed to stay or visit with him.”

When he was able to come off the ventilator, Kelli and Patsy brought him all the characters from his favorite show for when he woke up. “They are amazing,” she wrote.

A Saltillo resident, Kelli originally joined the NMMC staff in 1996 and worked for six years. After a year elsewhere, she rejoined the hospital staff in 2013. She worked with heart and vascular patients on 2 West and in the Emergency Department and Surgical Intensive Care Unit before transferring to Pediatrics four years ago. A 1992 graduate of Alcorn Central High School in Corinth, Deaton earned an associate degree in nursing from Northeast Mississippi Community College in Booneville in 1996.

Archie transferred to NMMC-Tupelo in February 2020 after working at the Amory hospital since 2013. A 1999 graduate of Nettleton High School, she earned an associate degree in respiratory care in 2003. She resides in Nettleton.

The DAISY Award is an international program that rewards and celebrates the extraordinary compassionate and skillful care given by nurses every day.  For more information, call (662) 377-3431 or email daisyawards@nmhs.net.

The BEE Award is also given to a deserving caregiver each month at NMMC. For more information, call (662) 377-3431 or email BEEAwards@nmhs.net.