The DAISY Awards that celebrate the skills, compassion and dedication of individual nurses and midwives have returned to United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust after a pause due to the pandemic.
ULHT initially partnered with the DAISY scheme in 2019, joining thousands of hospitals across the world already taking part in the initiative that allows patients, families and colleagues to nominate a nu
rse or midwife who made a real difference to their care. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic the awards were put on hold.
To mark the occasion of the awards being re-launched in the Trust, the Chief Executive Officer of the DAISY Foundation, Deb Zimmerman and her husband Gary Zimmerman who were visiting the UK from America, presented a DAISY Award to Jody Blow, an Advanced Clinical Practitioner in Orthopaedics based on Lincoln County Hospital’s Shuttleworth Ward.
Jody was nominated for the award for her compassionate and empathetic approach to patient care, and for her work to implement a training and awareness programme for staff to improve communication between staff and patients.
Speaking about the relaunch of the awards at ULHT, Deb said: “The last few years have been incredibly challenging and often nurses and healthcare professionals don’t take the time to sit back and really see the difference.
“For our patients and their families, it’s often the really small things they are thankful for and we don’t always see that impact.
“We as nurses often focus on what’s wrong and very rarely we get to focus on what’s right, and that’s what the Barnes family really wanted to achieve with the DAISY Awards.”
The DAISY Foundation was established in 1999 by the family of J. Patrick Barnes (Pat) after he died from complications of the auto-immune disease ITP in 1999. During his hospitalisation, they deeply appreciated the care and compassion shown to Patrick and his entire family, and after he died they created the awards as a way to say thank you to nurses in a public way.
Each winner of the award is presented with a DAISY pin badge, certificate and a healer’s touch sculpture, and as a DAISY honouree they also gain access to additional benefits for education, certification, continued education, wellbeing and professional engagement.
During the presentation of the awards, the winner’s department, ward or team are also invited to tuck into free cinnamon rolls. Cinnamon rolls were Pat’s ‘thank you’ to his nurses, and the Foundation wants all nurses to share in his favourite treat as a gift of gratitude.
Jody Blow, who was surprised with a DAISY Award at the launch event, said: “I was delighted to receive the DAISY award, it is such an honour to receive it, I still cannot believe it!
“I thank my colleagues for nominating me for such a prestigious award, their words were so kind. I love my job and am part of an incredible team caring for our patients. A huge thank you to everyone involved who made my day so very special”
Professor Karen Dunderdale, Director of Nursing and Deputy Chief Executive at ULHT, said: “We’re very proud to be partnered with the DAISY Award and we feel incredibly privileged that the foundation have been able to make the trip from the USA to join us in our celebration for the relaunch and to see the first award presented.
“We have extraordinary nurses and midwives at ULHT, and we’re incredibly proud to offer the DAISY Awards to individuals that have had a long-lasting positive impact on our patients or their families.”
If you would like to nominate a ULHT nurse or midwife for their care towards you or loved one, you can complete a nomination form on the ULHT website, or collect a nomination card from any ward or reception area and return completed nomination by email to [email protected] or post to DAISY Awards, Trust Headquarters, Lincoln.