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Daisy Award

The DAISY Award is an international program that rewards and celebrates the extraordinary clinical skill and compassionate care given by nurses everyday. West Palm Beach VA Medical Center is proud to be a DAISY Award Partner, recognizing our selected nurses with this special honor each quarter. These nurses consistently demonstrate excellence through their clinical expertise and extraordinary compassionate care. They are recognized as outstanding role models in our nursing community.

Daisy Award Graphic

What is The DAISY Award?

The DAISY Foundation was established in 1999 by the family of J. Patrick Barnes. Patrick died at the age of 33, from complications of the auto-immune disease Idiopathic Thrombocytopenia Purpura (ITP). During his eight-week hospital stay, his family was impressed by the care and compassion his nurses provided, not only to him but to everyone in the family. They created the DAISY Award, in Pat’s memory, to recognize the nurses making the big difference, in the lives of so many.

Our DAISY Award honorees demonstrate VA's I CARE principles: Integrity, Commitment, Advocacy, Respect, and Excellence.

They also demonstrate excellence through their clinical expertise and compassionate care. Each nominee is a considered role model in our nursing community. Each recipient will receive a beautiful certificate, a DAISY Award pin, and a hand-carved stone sculpture entitled “A Healer’s Touch”. There will also be an award ceremony in their work area; where the entire crew will celebrate with Cinnabon® cinnamon roles—a favorite of Patrick’s. Whenever nurses smell that wonderful cinnamon aroma, the Barnes family hopes nurses stop for a moment to think of how special they are.

Who may be nominated?

  • RNs
  • LPNs/LVNs
  • Advanced Practice Nurses

Who may nominate a nurse?

  • Patients
  • Patient families
  • Visitors

Recognition

Each DAISY Award recipient is recognized with a framed certificate, DAISY Pin and a hand-carved stone sculpture entitled “A Healer’s Touch.” Additionally, the recipient’s team receives cinnamon rolls – a favorite of Patrick’s during his illness.

Nominating a nurse

  • Ask the nurse’s full name (you will need it when you fill out the nomination form)
  • Explain in detail why you want to nominate that nurse for the DAISY Award and how the nurse models the “I CARE value”.

Nomination examples:

"I was not feeling well one night. I called my doctor and he recommended I go to the VA Emergency Room. After evaluation, the ER MD thought I should be hospitalized. When I arrived on the medical floor, I told my nurse, Roxanne, “I do not want to stay, I’m feeling better, and I will go home in the morning.” I was using every excuse to leave the hospital. I did not want to share the real reason why I wanted to leave. Roxanne spent extra time with me and was able to convince me to stay for my treatment. She was kind, respectful, and very good at explaining my condition, treatment, and consequences, if I refused treatment. After my conversation with her, I decided to tell her the real reason of wanting to leave the hospital was to not miss my son’s graduation. She immediately told me I was not going to miss his graduation, and she was right.
On the day of my son’s graduation, Roxanne facilitated a Skype arrangement and I was able to see my son on stage. Roxanne is my hero and I want to thank her for advocating for my care."

"When my husband was hospitalized, the doctor spoke with us about his diagnosis, but we did not understand what was going on. The nurse caring for my husband, Steve knew I was worried. Steve took time to explain in a way that we understood. In addition to that, he explained the hospital process and resources available. Steve is kind, respectful, committed, and an advocates for his patients. He embody's VA's I CARE values. I am grateful to Steve for taking care of my husband and for being an extraordinary nurse."