DAISY Award honors extraordinary nurses

Nurses at Memorial Hospital in Chester can now be honored with The DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses as part of the DAISY Foundation's mission to recognize the extraordinary, compassionate nursing care they provide patients and families every day.

This new program launched Oct. 27 at all Memorial Hospital locations with daisy sugar cookies for everyone to enjoy.

The DAISY Foundation is a not-for-profit organization established in memory of J. Patrick Barnes by members of his family. Barnes died at the age of 33 in 1999 from complications of Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (ITP), a little-known but not uncommon autoimmune disease. (DAISY is an acronym for Diseases Attacking the Immune System.) The care Patrick and his family received from nurses while he was ill inspired this unique means of thanking nurses for making a profound difference in the lives of their patients and patient families.

Nurses may be nominated by patients, families, and colleagues, and the winner will be chosen by a committee at Memorial Hospital.

Awards will be presented throughout the year and honorees will receive a certificate, a DAISY Award pin and a sculpture called "A Healer's Touch," hand-carved by artists of the Shona Tribe in Zimbabwe.

"We are proud to be among the health care organizations participating in The DAISY Award program," said Susan Diddlebock, Chief Nursing Officer. "Nurses are heroes every day. It's important that our nurses know their work is highly valued, and The DAISY Foundation provides a way for us to do that."

Nomination forms are available at Memorial Hospital, the Chester Clinic, and Steeleville Family Practice locations. Forms can also be found online at www.mhchester.com/DAISY-nominations.

For more information, visit is DAISYfoundation.org.