The DAISY Award

DAISY award recipients are nominated by their peers, physicians, patients, and families, as well as administrators.

Winners receive the following:

  • A certificate in a leather holder proclaiming the recipient an "extraordinary nurse"
  • A DAISY Award Pin
  • A unique, hand carved serpentine stone sculpture from Zimbabwe entitled "A Healer's Touch"
  • A spotlight page on the DAISY Foundation website, featuring a photo and telling the story of why this nurse was honored

All nurses and staff in the recipient's unit are treated to special cinnamon rolls at every presentation. The reason? Once when Patrick had no appetite, he ate his father's cinnamon roll and then asked for one the next day, as well as enough for all of the nurses. The message to every nurse present was that whenever you smell that wonderful cinnamon aroma, stop a minute to think about how special you are because you are a nurse. You may take for granted the things you do for patients, but they surely do not.

Each DAISY award facility also receives a large celebratory banner that is hung in the recipient's unit for a month, generating positive conversation about the special role nurse's play in patient care. The presentation generally takes place in the nurse's unit, often as a surprise to the honoree.

MidState is excited to be able to participate in the DAISY Foundation's recognition of nurses in this way. If you would like to nominate a MidState nurse, please fill out the official nomination form below.

The Daisy Foundation

* = required field

Nurse Nomination

from MidState Medical Center as a deserving recipient of The DAISY Award. This nurse demonstrates compassionate care, commitment to excellence, extraordinary services and provides a remarkable patient experience.

Tell Us About Yourself

Thank you for taking the time to nominate an extraordinary nurse for this award. Please tell us about yourself, so we may include you in the celebration of this award should the nurse you nominated be chosen.

The Daisy Foundation

In late 1999, at the age of 33, a man named Patrick Barnes awoke with some blood blisters in his mouth. Having survived Hodgkin's Disease twice, he was admitted to the hospital and diagnosed with the auto-immune disease, ITP (idiopathic thrombocytopenia purpura). After battling this disease and spending 8 weeks in the hospital, Patrick died of complications from his disease.

In honor of his memory, his family formed the DAISY Foundation in 1999 and created an award that celebrates the best of nursing (DAISY stands for Diseases Attacking The Immune System). The meaning behind the award focuses on the one positive thing the family could hold onto: the care Patrick received from his nurses.

When Patrick died, his family felt compelled to express their profound gratitude to nurses for the superhuman work they do for patients and their families every day. This is the primary mission of the DAISY foundation.

daisyfoundation.org