UHS award honors nurses who give exceptional care

The UHS Labor & Delivery team at UHS Wilson Medical Center’s Birthing Center is the recipient of an annual award that honors nursing units and departments for exceptional, compassionate care.

The DAISY Team Award, presented by UHS to members of its Nursing Division, is part of an international recognition program that celebrates the skillful care nurses provide every day.

At UHS, monthly awards are presented to individual nurses, plus an annual recognition is given to a team or unit.

Coinciding with Nurses Week, May 6 to 12, the Labor & Delivery nurses are being recognized for the outstanding care they provide to newborns, as well as to the infants’ parents and other family members.

This program to recognize the care and compassion of extraordinary nurses started at UHS in April 2021. Nurses are nominated by anyone in the organization--patients, family members, other nurses, physicians, other clinicians and staff--anyone who experiences or observes extraordinary care being provided by a nurse.

“This award is the highest recognition that any nurse at UHS can receive,” said Kay Boland, RN, UHS senior vice president, system chief nursing officer and chief operating officer of UHS. “It is a reflection of the high quality of nursing care offered to UHS patients and of the tremendous contributions to care that are made every day by nurses on our team.”

Said Toni Nash, RN, Director of Nursing Education and Professional Practice: “Nurses are the front line in healthcare, providing expert clinical care and physical and emotional support to patients and families in inpatient and outpatient settings. They are the heart and soul of UHS.”

In the past year, several nurses were nominated for recognition of compassionate care by patients, family members or co-workers. Each month one team member is selected from all nominees to be celebrated at an organizational and national level. Those recipients are: Rachel Fritzsch, Susan Brissette, Joshua Barahona, Michelle Brunschmid, Jillian Hintze, Sara Ferrara, Jessica Binkewicz, Samantha Johnson, Meghan Frye, Philip Nedlik, Katelyn Allabaugh and Leighann Hiser.

Previously, the award had kicked off with the nurses of the Ambulatory Surgery team, who were followed by Reed Getzge, Dawn Rishel, Paula Covert, Nancy Kirchner, Amber Donahue, Rebecca Davis, Tiffany Kemak, Allison Hores, Isaiah Buchanan, Terry Harding, Caroline Nielands and Erin Perry.

In 2022, the DAISY Award was expanded at UHS with the first-ever DAISY Team Award unit recognition. The award went to the North Tower 4 nursing team at UHS Hospitals. North Tower 4 has persevered during extremely difficult times, including a pandemic, and has done so by living the Values of UHS and the standards of the DAISY Award program.

DAISY stands for Diseases Attacking the Immune System. The DAISY Foundation was established by the family of Seattle hospital patient J. Patrick Barnes after he died from complications of the auto-immune disease ITP in 1999.

During his hospitalization, his family members deeply appreciated the care and compassion shown to Mr. Barnes and his entire family. 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.

To celebrate the DAISY Award recipients, celebrations are held, and the honored nurses are presented with the award and a pin, and enjoy cinnamon rolls, a symbolic treat in honor of Mr. Barnes.

There is no better time to recognize and honor a nurse than during National Nurses Week, May 6 to 12. The celebration begins with National Nurses Day on May 6 and ends on May 12, the birthday of Florence Nightingale (1820-1910), the founder of modern nursing.

The year 2023 is the 69th year of a nationally recognized Nurses Week celebration.

If you have been touched by the hard work of a nurse at UHS and would like to nominate them for a DAISY Award, you can fill out the form by clicking here.