The first DAISY Award will be presented to a nurse at Madison Memorial Hospital this week.
Nurse’s Week is celebrated every year from May 6-12 throughout the country. It will end by celebrating the birthday of our founding mother of nursing—Florence Nightingale, Kevin McEwan Chief Nursing Officer at Madison Memorial Hospital said.
As Chief Nursing Officer, McEwan gets to work with all the nurses and represent them at the hospital.
“My role as Chief Nurse is to care for nurses and to recognize them for all they do,” McEwan said.
This week, the hospital has provided fun activities, played games, given out gift cards and provided lots of food to show their appreciation for the nurses.
One way the hospital is choosing to recognize and acknowledge one of its nurses is by awarding them the “DAISY Award.”
The award was created by the Barnes family in California. Patrick J. Barnes died from an immune disease in 1999. The term DAISY stands for Diseases Attacking the Immune System. The family wanted to give back to the nurses who helped their family, so they created the DAISY Award.
Many hospitals internationally have adopted the award as a way to recognize those silent quiet care takers, McEwan said.
Madison Memorial Hospital decided to implement the DAISY program this year. Over 20 nurses were nominated for the DAISY Award, and each of them will be recognized and given a DAISY pin.
The hospital’s DAISY committee chose a well-deserving nurse for the DAISY Award who has served the community for over 40 years. She will be announced and recognized later this week.
“Nurses are a unique calling,” McEwan said. “It’s a very fulfilling job. I think many nurses feel like they were called to be a nurse.”
There are many ways people can show their appreciation for nurses.
Recognizing the sacrifice that nurses give and supporting them in their career are some ways people can show their appreciation, McEwan explained. “If you know a nurse, thank a nurse. If you know somebody who is thinking about going into nursing, support them.”