Nurse Aaron Howard receives DAISY Award
October 10, 2019
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aron was honored recently with a celebration on the 6th Floor Orthopedics Unit with his colleagues and nursing leaders. The award was presented by unit Director Ann Gomes and Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer Titus Gambrell. As always, everyone enjoyed cinnamon rolls after the presentation.
Aaron was nominated by the spouse of an out-of-state patient for the exceptional care he provided while the patient was at St. Mary’s following an accident that required urgent surgery.
“It takes a special kind of person to care for not only the patient but also the family,” his nominator says. “It’s always difficult being in a hospital, but when you are 650 miles away from home, it is extremely hard. Aaron realized this and tried to make us as comfortable as possible.”
Congratulations, Aaron!
About the DAISY Award
The DAISY Award is an international recognition program that honors and celebrates the skillful, compassionate care nurses provide every day. DAISY stands for Diseases Attacking the Immune System. The award was created by the family of J. Patrick Barnes after he died in 1999 at the age of 33 from complications of an auto-immune disease. The nursing care Patrick received while hospitalized profoundly touched his family, who created the DAISY Foundation to help other people publicly thank nurses and recognize the quality of nursing care. Today, some 3,900 hospitals and schools in all 50 states and 22 nations use the DAISY Award program to honor extraordinary nurses.
At St. Mary’s, each DAISY Award honoree is recognized at a public ceremony on her/his unit with a certificate, a DAISY Award pin, and a hand-carved stone sculpture entitled “A Healer’s Touch.” In addition, everyone in the unit celebrates with cinnamon rolls – a favorite of Patrick’s during his illness.
Nurses can be nominated by anyone, including patients, patient’s family members, physicians or colleagues. Any nurse in the St. Mary’s system – including those at all three hospitals as well as medical group offices – is eligible. The nomination simply asks you to share your story of why a particular nurse is special to you. We will honor eight nurses a year. Nomination forms can be obtained from St. Mary’s Nursing Administration office or by calling 706.389.3238.