Donna Ivy, a nurse in Hamilton Medical Center’s 3A Medical Unit, 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.
Ivy was nominated for going above and beyond in caring for patients. She received eight nominations, praising her for her kindness, knowledge, compassion, attentiveness, respect, sense of humor, professionalism, empathy and caring nature.
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.
Fifty-six other nurses were also nominated for the award. They include: Steven Sukow, Joy Bruner, Kenya Martinez-Gasca, Stephanie Gravitt, Ashton Lowery, Erica Ingle, Stephany Mullinax, Avery Bowling, Britney Stong, Katie Gorrell, Megan Albright, Candi Bautista Mayorga, Jenerfier Pritchett, Peyton Hawkins, Jim Sanders, Lisa Gibbs, Sequoyah Mack, Elvira Hernandez Moya, Shelia Deloraya, Amy Townsend, Carrie McDougal, Amanda Cargal, Jamie Hall, Emily Sardina, Savannah Mabel, Kim Davis, Heather Hartman, Aaron Holden, Roxana Posadas, Gabby Perez, Justin Bailey, Erika Alvarez, Tom Harp, Greg Oberschmidt, Freddy Fairman, Elizabeth Bennett, Crystal Wyatt, Regina Hocking, Crystal Townsend, Michelle Regal, Alison Caraway, Ashley Ridley, Billie Jean Wilson, Brittany Coffey, Kimberly Ledford, Mayra Cisneros Ochoa, Cara Gunter, Hannah Lipsey, Jessica Guest, Juli Hayes, Nikki Taylor, Kay Crider, Robert Marks, Chris Satterfield, Phebee Garrett and Payton Castillo.
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.