Galen College of Nursing graduate Katie Gamez recently received the Daisy Award for compassionate care, a testament to the principles she learned at the college. Gamez, a Texas native, earned her vocational nursing diploma before completing her associate degree in nursing in 2024. Her education led her to a role as an intensive care unit nurse at Methodist Hospital Stone Oak in San Antonio.
Gamez said her role is about more than just medical care. “Sometimes we get patients in there that are almost on their way out, and it’s very rewarding when they come back out of it,” she said. “It’s also very rewarding when we provide comfort to those families for the ones that don’t make it. Most of the time when they’re in the ICU, they’re very sick and fighting for their lives.”
After working as a patient care technician since high school and raising two children, Gamez chose to pursue nursing over a teaching career. “I thought it was more fulfilling, caring for people and advocating for them when they couldn’t,” she said.
Gamez began her nursing education at Galen’s San Antonio campus in September 2021, drawn by the college’s four annual start times and easy enrollment process. After completing her vocational nursing program, she enrolled in the LVN-to-ADN bridge program. “It was a super easy transition,” she said. “I already knew the program, the campus. I went from the VN program with my friends and we went right into the ADN program together. It never really crossed my mind to go anywhere else. It was just so convenient.”
Now, with tuition assistance from HCA Healthcare, Gamez is pursuing her third degree from Galen: an online bachelor of science in nursing, a program that helps prepare nurses for leadership roles.
The Daisy Award nomination came from Evan Walker, a patient’s daughter who described how Gamez cared for her father in his final days.
“She treated my dad with respect and tenderness, speaking to him as if he were fully aware,” Walker wrote. “She answered my questions without hesitation, gave me space to feel, and never made me feel like I was a burden. She knew when to step in and when to simply let me sit in silence with my dad.”
Walker added, “Her mix of professional skill and deep compassion made an impossible time feel a little more bearable. I’ll never forget how she helped us find peace in the middle of pain.”
In July, Glenn Dennis, chief nursing officer at Stone Oak, presented Gamez with the award. “The impact that Katie made in the clinical care of her father was admirable, but the way that she cared for the entire family compassionately was exceptional,” Dennis said in a statement.
Gamez said she was shocked to learn she had won. “When I found out it was me, it was amazing,” she said. “I was so shocked to win. I had no idea. Just reading what Dennis had said in front of all your colleagues, that was so nice.”
For aspiring nursing students, Gamez offered a piece of advice: “Don’t give up. At the very beginning of nursing school, it feels like so much, but if you keep going, it’s over before you know it.”
“It was intense, it was a full-time job, but I loved it,” she said. “I wouldn’t change anything honestly. If it’s hard it’s good, and you should learn something from that.”
Are you interested in continuing you nursing education? For those already in the nursing profession, Galen also offers an LPN/LVN to ADN Bridge program as well as an online master’s and doctorate degree programs. Discover the opportunities in nursing here.
For those just beginning their nursing journey, Galen offers several paths including our: PN/VN diploma program, Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN) program, and 3-year Baccalaureate Degree in Nursing (BSN) program.
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