DAISY winner is the “heartbeat of this unit”

By Maureen Gilmer, Riley Children’s Health senior writer, mgilmer1@iuhealth.org

When Cindy White enrolled at Indiana University Bloomington, she hadn’t planned to be a nurse, even though she pretended to be one as a child taking care of her aunts.

She had another dream – a career in music.

“I wanted to be a music major and be a pop singer, but they wanted me to sing opera,” she said.

Not satisfied with that option, she went next door to the nursing building and fell into a career that has filled her in immeasurable ways for four decades now.

“I love nursing,” White said. “And yes, I sing to my patients sometimes.”

White has been an oncology nurse her entire career. She started on the toddler unit at Riley Hospital for Children in the 1980s, left for a decade to work in oncology elsewhere, then returned to help open Riley’s outpatient infusion clinic at IU Health Hospital North some 20 years ago.

Her clinical skills, compassion and connection with patients are well-known on the small unit. But White was surprised recently with a DAISY Award presented at Riley’s Downtown Indianapolis campus.

“I mostly work at the North clinic, but they kidnapped me one day and had me work Downtown, then coaxed me into the break room, where they surprised me,” she said with a laugh.

White was nominated by the mother of a young cancer patient who has been coming to Riley at IU North twice monthly for several years.

“Cindy is the heartbeat of this unit,” the woman said in her nomination letter. “She learns about her families and what her patients’ needs are.”

Teaching families comes naturally to White, who said she loves the family-focused care and the connections she builds with patients.

“You’re not just treating the children, it’s the whole family,” she said. “And it takes the whole team to coordinate all the care families need.”

Nurse practitioner Ann Haddix, who runs the survivorship clinic at Riley North, has known White since both were young nurses.

“I was a student, green as grass. I didn’t know anything, and Cindy was my preceptor,” Haddix said, recalling how White would run circles around others on the toddler unit.

“We came in at 7 in the morning, and we had four toddlers. I kid you not, by 8, she had four kids bathed, did the little girls’ hair, put them in gowns and had them in highchairs for breakfast by 7:30, and all documented by 8,” she said.

“I told my husband I didn’t know if I could keep up. She is a superwoman,” Haddix added. “Ever since then, I learned to organize my day and my tasks the way Cindy taught me as a student. I still do that.”

The two (pictured here with some of the Riley at North oncology team) were reunited at North and continue to care for patients.

“We took different paths, but here we are working together at the end of our careers,” Haddix said. “She is terrific. If I had a child or grandchild that needed care, no question, she is top-notch.”

White, who is married and has a grown daughter, describes herself as “very type A” but someone who loves what she does.

So even though she didn’t make music her career, she still sings on the job.

“Sometimes I’ll sing when I start IVs for the little kids, or when I’m checking their vital signs. It can calm them, and they’re not so frightened.”

A few of her favorites: “Itsy Bitsy Spider,” “Over the Rainbow,” “You Are My Sunshine” and Christmas carols during the holidays.

Nominate a nurse who exemplifies excellent clinical skills and compassionate care here.