DAISY is an acronym for Diseases Attacking the Immune System. The Foundation was formed in November, 1999, by the family of J. Patrick Barnes who died at age 33 of complications of the autoimmune disease Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (ITP). Pat’s death after 8 weeks in the hospital was a terrible shock to his family. However, the nursing care they experienced during Pat’s hospitalization compelled them to express their gratitude to nurses everywhere for the clinical skill and compassionate care nurses provide every day. This is why the Barnes family created The DAISY Foundation and The DAISY Award For Extraordinary Nurses.
The DAISY Award provides healthcare leaders the means to highlight all the “right” going on in their organizations. Each nomination tells the story of extraordinary compassion and care provided to a patient. The result is a program that helps drive organizational culture, inspire and motivate extraordinary nursing, nourish teamwork and promote the professional image of nursing.
Each DAISY Award comes with a story. For a dose of inspiration, grab a cup of coffee and peruse these inspiring stories on the DAISY Foundation Website about nursing excellence
The DAISY Award is reserved for nurses who deliver exceptional care on the job, often going above and beyond the expectations required of them. Providers can be nominated by their colleagues, patients, and their families. It’s a special honor designed to shed light on the amazing acts of kindness nurses perform every day. Dozens of nurses receive this prestigious award every year, so we decided to highlight some of our favorite stories from 2023 for Nurses’ Week. Here are some recent stories to remind you why you became a nurse: Christy Fliss – Night Shift, Sanford Health Sylvan Court “It’s […]
Christy Fliss isn’t used to seeing much daylight as the charge nurse on the night shift at Sanford Health Sylvan Court in Canby, Minnesota where she’s worked for nearly nine years. Her colleagues know and love her for her attention to detail and stabilizing presence in the ICU, so they decided to surprise her with the DAISY Award to show her how much they appreciate having her around. “As an administrator, we can get calls any time of the day, any time of the night,” said fellow night shift nurse Jason Anderson. “When I know Christy’s on, I just have […]
Losing a loved one is never easy. But having an empathetic nurse on hand can make it that much easier to say goodbye. Grayson Moss, an ICU nurse at Atrium Health Floyd Medical Center in Rome, Georgia, recently found out how much of a difference his presence can make when a woman nominated him for the DAISY Award, a special honor from the DAISY Foundation for nurses who go above and beyond the demands of the job. The woman was at the hospital during her aunt’s final days when she noticed Moss’s soothing demeanor. “It’s never easy to lose a […]
Kayla Finzen, a licensed practical nurse at Good Samaritan Society in Sioux Falls, North Dakota, received a welcome surprise at work the other week. Linda Fansin, one of her former patients, was on hand to present her with the DAISY Award, a special honor reserved for nurses who go above and beyond the demands of the job for their patients. Linda came to the facility for a leg wound and credits Finzen with nursing her back to health. “It took me about a week to realize what a top-notch nurse I had in the rehab facility when I was here,” […]
Bailey Strausser, who works second shift in the Medical Intensive Care Unit (MICU) at the University of Iowa, was in the middle of managing multiple patients when one of them asked to speak to a Catholic priest as she felt herself slipping away. Strausser is now being honored for going above and beyond to honor her last wishes. “In that moment, the end of her life, it was the last thing I could do to honor my patient,” said Strausser, RN, PCCN. Summoning a priest proved to be much harder than she originally thought when she couldn’t get the on-call […]
Abigail Peterson, a registered nurse at MercyOne Clinton Medical Center, is getting her moment in the sun. She received the DAISY Award for her work in the emergency department her team nominated her for giving extraordinary compassionate care. The award recognizes nurses who advance health equity with their work in the community. She is noted for going above and beyond the standard requirements to ensure patients got the best medical care they needed. Her nomination read, “Her joyful attitude at work is what immediately caught my attention. Over the past few years, I observed Abby carry that positive attitude into […]
Dani Reed, of Eau Claire, Wisconsin, never saw herself becoming a nurse – until she lost her newborn son to complications in 2007. Now she’s being honored by her local community for her decision to help others as part of National Nurses’ Week. Reed went to the hospital when she was pregnant with her third son, Teagan. She told the nurses on staff that she knew something was wrong. But she says her concerns weren’t taken seriously until it was too late. Soon after she gave birth, they had to put Teagan on life support, but his chances of survival […]