First DAISY Award Announced at Wynn Hospital
UTICA, N.Y. – The Mohawk Valley Health System (MVHS) announced the most recent winner of the DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses; the first to be awarded to a nurse working at Wynn Hospital. The DAISY Award recognizes nurses for the compassionate care they perform on a daily basis. The winner, Josie Shafer, RN, received a hand-carved statue, a certificate and scholarship opportunities for continued learning.
Each winner is selected from a pool of nominations submitted by patients and/or family members, then evaluated by a group of peers from across the health system.
“We are so proud of Josie,” said Nancy Traxel, Education Services manager at MVHS. “She is very deserving of this honor for the extraordinary care, compassion and clinical excellence she demonstrates as a nurse who only recently graduated from nursing school.”
Josie was nominated by a patient for kind and respectful care.
“Josie demonstrates a well-rounded repertoire of highly professional nursing skills and a great sense of how to build meaningful rapport while facilitating smooth, skillful care,” the nomination read. “She is extremely compassionate. Josie went above and beyond by reaching out to my specialists to communicate questions concerns and to maintain high levels of excellence in care. Josie helped me through difficult symptoms and was steadfast in giving me a truly compassionate care experience. She is outstanding.”
The not-for-profit DAISY Foundation is based in Glen Ellen, California, and was established by family members in memory of J. Patrick Barnes. Patrick died at the age of 33 in 1999 from complications from an auto-immune 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.
“When Patrick was critically ill, our family experienced first-hand the remarkable skill and care nurses provide patients every day and night.” said Bonnie Barnes, FAAN, co-founder of The DAISY Foundation. “Yet these unsung heroes are seldom recognized for the super-human work they do. The kind of work the nurses at Wynn Hospital are called on to do every day epitomizes the purpose of the DAISY Award.”
