The DAISY Award
About the DAISY Foundation
The DAISY Foundation was established in 1999 by the family of J. Patrick Barnes who died of complications of the auto-immune disease Idiopathic Thrombocytopenia Purpura (ITP) at the age of 33. (DAISY is an acronym for Diseases Attacking the Immune SYstem.) During Pat’s eight week hospitalization, his family was awestruck by the care and compassion his nurses provided not only to Pat but to everyone in his family. The Barnes family created a foundation to honor Pat’s life. One of the foundation’s goals is to recognize extraordinary nurses everywhere who continue to make an enormous difference in the lives of the people they serve by their super-human work.
What is the DAISY Award?
The DAISY Award is an international program that rewards and celebrates the extraordinary compassionate and skillful care given by nurses every day. Mount Sinai South Nassau is proud to be a DAISY Award Partner. Mount Sinai South Nassau will recognize one of our nurses with this special honor, four times a year.
To find out more about the program, including the growing list of Partners, please go to www.daisyfoundation.org.
Each DAISY Award Honoree will be recognized at a public ceremony in her/his unit, and will receive: a beautiful certificate, a DAISY Award pin, and a hand-carved stone sculpture entitled “A Healer’s Touch”. Additionally, everyone on the unit will celebrate with Cinnabon® cinnamon rolls – a favorite of Patrick’s during his illness. The Barnes family requests when nurses smell that wonderful cinnamon aroma, they stop for a moment and think about how special they are.
How to Nominate an Extraordinary Nurse or Team
Patients, families, visitors, nurses, physicians, and other employees may nominate an extraordinary and compassionate nurse for the DAISY award by submitting the following forms: