Nurses throughout the country are continuously being honored with The DAISY Award, a part of the DAISY Foundation’s national program to recognize the super-human efforts nurses make every day. Hospitals and healthcare centers throughout the Eastern Shore have been presenting their nurses with the DAISY Award to show pride and gratification to their deserving employees.
What is the DAISY Award?
The DAISY Foundation is a non-profit based in Glen Ellen, California. It was established by the family of J. Patrick Barnes after his passing at the age of 33 years old in 1999 from complications of Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (ITP). ITP is a little-known but common autoimmune disease. The care Patrick and his family received from nurses while he was ill inspired this unique means of thanking nurses for making a profound difference in the lives of their patients and patient families.
The DAISY Award is a way to say “thank you” to nurses everywhere. Through a partnership with the DAISY Foundation, hospitals and healthcare centers receive ongoing recognition, flexibility, and a turnkey program in awarding the DAISY Award.
Beebe Healthcare
Beebe presents the DAISY Award to nurses on a quarterly basis. Their September recipient was Matthew Chaffinch, an Intensive Care Unit nurse. He was recognized for the care he provided to a patient and his parents during the patient’s last days of life.
“Matt Chaffinch worked overnight and was not only caring to our son but also to us,” the patient’s parents wrote in their nomination. “He made sure we had pillows and blankets to rest the best we could. He explained everything that he did and gave us such compassion as we came to realize that our son was not going to live. Matt made the worse experience of our lives bearable.”
Matt was presented with a DAISY Award certificate and a hand-carved Healer’s Touch sculpture during a recent surprise ceremony. Each DAISY honoree receives the statue and the certificate, which commends the honoree for being an “Extraordinary Nurse.” It reads: “In deep appreciation of all you do, who you are, and the incredibly meaningful difference you make in the lives of so many people.”
Peninsula Regional Medical Center
Kathy Foxwell is a registered nurse in the Peninsula Breast Center, but her title is Navigator. Cancer can feel like a journey, and when people are diagnosed, it’s important to have someone to guide them along the way. Foxwell is outstanding at making sure patients have everything they need, and for that reason, she recently earned the Daisy Award for Extraordinary Nurses.
A colleague who nominated her wrote, “The patients we see are anxious and at a high-stress level. Kathy’s smile and embracing personality gets the patients through this very anxious time. On many occasions, the patients come back through the Breast Center to follow up with their surgeons and ask to see Kathy again. She always opens her arms wide for them and they are so happy they get to see her and share their journey with her.”
She also shared a story that illustrates Foxwell’s impact: “Recently at an event for breast cancer survivors, Kathy was approached by a lady who had been diagnosed with breast cancer and credited Kathy with saving her life. The lady had come in for a mammogram and ultrasound. Kathy saw the patient was very nervous and for good reason – it was a holiday and the patient would have had to wait several days to come back for a biopsy. Kathy arranged everything, got in touch with a radiologist that afternoon and the biopsy was done the same day. This patient will never forget how Kathy made her feel, even several years later.”
Foxwell was honored with the Daisy Award in a ceremony before her colleagues.
Her certificate read: “In deep appreciation of all you do, who you are, and the incredibly meaningful difference you make in the lives of so many people.” She was also presented with fresh flowers on behalf of the Peninsula Regional Medical staff, and a sculpture called A Healer’s Touch, hand-carved by artists of the Shona Tribe in Zimbabwe.