The 2024 DAISY Team Award goes to the UHS Palliative Care team

UHS has expanded the DAISY Awards beyond individual nurses to include an annual team award.  The team recognition will be made every year during National Nurses Week.  This year the DAISY Team Award goes to the Nurse Practitioners of the UHS Palliative Care team.

Making hard times more comfortable

The UHS Palliative Care team aims to meet the physical and emotional needs of patients receiving comfort-focused end-of-life care and their loved ones. The team has done so by living the Values of UHS and the standards of the DAISY Awards program. The team of nurse practitioners, which includes Rebekah Dickman, AGNP; Alyssa Cox, FNP; Jennifer Whelan, FNP; and Madison Stelmach, FNP, were nominated by colleague Philip J. Dzwonczyk, MD, FACP, AGSF, Medical Director, UHS Palliative Medicine Service.

In his nomination letter, Philip talked about how these advanced practice nurses epitomize clinical excellence in their daily work by caring for patients with serious, life-limiting illnesses. He goes on to talk about how they are intellectually highly capable and bring their considerable fund of knowledge to bear in their approach to the patients for whom they care.  

Philip is regularly impressed by the Compassion they display as they work with patients and families in the most difficult circumstances. He describes the group as "highly capable in dealing with complex family and social situations in the context of advanced illness often in close proximity to death."

Besides living the UHS Value of Compassion, Philip discussed how they also live and breathe the UHS Value of Teamwork. He notes how they work extremely well with the physicians and social workers on their team.  They have highly developed communication skills, which allows them to work well with the other healthcare professionals caring for our patients. 

These four nurse practitioners also maintain a commitment to lifelong learning that allows them to remain proficient as medical providers and be active teachers for residents and medical students.

"Our palliative medicine service nurse practitioners are truly extraordinary and exemplify the values of compassion, trust, respect, teamwork, and innovation," said Philip J. Dzwonczyk. "They manage patients who have severe symptoms related to their illnesses and are highly professional in guiding patients and their families through the difficult task of determining preferences for life-sustaining treatment at the end of life."

Thank you to the nurses of the Palliative Care Unit for displaying such Compassion and Respect to your patients, a stellar example of our team living "The UHS Way!"

Honoring a team

UHS has been honoring our nurses over the past year by presenting nurses with the DAISY (Diseases Attacking the Immune SYstem) Award, an international recognition program that honors and celebrates the skillful, compassionate care nurses provide every day.

The DAISY Foundation was established by Mr. Barnes’ family members after he died from complications of the autoimmune disease ITP in 1999. During his hospitalization, they deeply appreciated the care and compassion shown by nurses.  When he died, they felt compelled to say “thank you” to nurses in a very public way. To learn more, visit DAISYFoundation.org.

DAISY recognizes that while achieving better patient and family outcomes may start with one individual, it often takes an entire team to implement such advances successfully. The team award is designed to honor collaboration by a team that goes above and beyond the traditional role of nursing to deliver kind and compassionate care.

Nominations encouraged

Nominations are submitted by using a form found on nyuhs.org.  On this form the person will be able to tell the story of why they are nominating the nurse, while also choosing which UHS Value (Compassion, Trust, Respect, Teamwork, Innovation) the nurse especially displayed.

If you have any questions, please contact Toni Nash at (607) 763-6896 or send an email to daisy@nyuhs.org.