Juli Hayes, a registered nurse in the Labor and Delivery unit at Hamilton Medical Center (HMC), recently received the DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses. The DAISY Award recognizes exemplary nursing excellence and is the highest honor a nurse can receive at HMC.
Hayes has worked at HMC for 25 years and holds a national certification in inpatient obstetrics. She was nominated by a patient who mentioned her communication, vigilance, focus on safety, responsiveness and reassuring nature as reasons for her nomination.
The award, presented in collaboration with The American Organization of Nurse Executives (AONE) is part of the DAISY Foundation’s program to recognize the super-human efforts nurses perform every day.
DAISY Award recipients receive an honorary DAISY pin, a banner to display on their unit, an award certificate, and the Healer’s Touch, a hand-carved sculpture by the Shona tribe in Zimbabwe. The sculpture is especially meaningful because of the profound respect the Shona tribe gives to their traditional “healers.” A Shona healer is affectionately regarded as a treasure by those they are caring for which describes exactly how the DAISY Foundation and Hamilton feel about nurses.
Thirty-seven other nurses were also nominated for the award. They include Avery Bowling, Donna Ivy, Joanna Sneed, Emily Kirk, Allison Horne, Emily Allen, Meghan Collins, Bryan Hernandez, Ashlee (Erica) Ingle, Deb Richardson, Wanda Cooper, Payton Castillo, Martha Rodriguez, Arilla Newman, Kay Crider, Jessica Hix, Erica Green, Megan Bethune, Jessica Guest, Cara Gunter, Cynthia Bartley, Anna Harrington, Sarah Green, Taylor Newsome, Gabriela Perez, Maria Rojo, Charlotte Smith, Kelsee (Montanna) Deocampo, Kim Haynes, Janice Linette Blaylock, Brandy Setser, Allison Cartledge, Leticia Mata, Mayra Cisneros Ochoa, Jamie Hall, Jeremy Kiger, and Theresa Gordon.
The not-for-profit DAISY Foundation is based in Glen Ellen, Calif., and was established by family members in memory of J. Patrick Barnes. Barnes died at the age of 33 in late 1999 from complications of Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (ITP), a little-known but not uncommon auto-immune disease. DAISY is an acronym for Diseases Attacking the Immune System.
