What is the DAISY Award for nurses?
The DAISY award was created by The Daisy Foundation (more on that below), which partners with a wide variety of organizations to distribute the DAISY award. It is an award created to recognize excellent nurses (including LPNs & LVNS), nursing faculty members, and nursing students. The DAISY award is part of a national recognition program that was created as a way to “thank nurses for the care and kindness they provide” and “to honor the super-human work nurses do for patients and families every day”. Awards are given out by nomination only and can be given to teams or individuals.
Per The Daisy Foundation’s website, the goal in giving out this award is to shine a light on nursing excellence through “meaningful recognition.” This means it aims to
- Improve nurse satisfaction and retention
- Foster a healthy work environment
- Reinforce patient and family-centered care
There are several DAISY award categories, including (but not limited to) direct care, nurse leaders, health equity, and lifetime achievement awards. You can read a brief overview of the DAISY award HERE.
The DAISY Foundation’s story
The DAISY Foundation was created by the family members of Patrick Barnes, a man diagnosed with Immune Thrombocytopenia (ITP) at the young age of 33.
Patrick was then hospitalized for 8 weeks, at which point his family got to know the nurses who were so heavily involved in his care. When he eventually succumbed to this awful autoimmune disease, the Barnes family wanted to find a way to honor the nurses who had worked so hard to keep Patrick (and his family) comfortable and cared for. Cue the creation of The DAISY Foundation, and subsequently The DAISY Award (which stands for Diseases Attacking the Immune System).
Since then, the foundation has rapidly expanded and partnered with a wide variety of healthcare organizations and nursing schools throughout the country. They now also offer DAISY Foundation Grants.
How to nominate a nurse for a DAISY award
Nominating a nurse for a DAISY award is a quick, simple process. Start HERE to find the list of participating organizations. You will then be asked to search for the facility (where the nurse you are nominating works) and fill out the nomination form. Every institution’s nomination form might differ slightly. The nomination forms will then be reviewed by the DAISY committee at the institution your nominee works to determine a winner.
If you’re wondering when the person you nominated (AKA the DAISY award nominee) will find out that they’ve been nominated, the DAISY foundation’s website states: “It depends.”
The number of DAISY Awards a partner presents annually is based on the number of nurses the facility has on staff. For example, a large facility might present several DAISY Awards a month, while a small, rural facility might present only one DAISY Award per year. Your nurse will be notified of your nomination based on the celebration frequency of his/her facility.
So there you have it. Sounds pretty simple, right? Get to nominating!
Who can nominate a nurse for a DAISY award?
The short answer: Anyone and everyone! Any staff members, preceptors or preceptees, nursing educators, managers, and hospital executives (just to name a few) can nominate a nurse for a DAISY award. If you know someone in the nursing profession who goes above and beyond, you can nominate them. This means you might be nominating
- A fellow nurse
- Your preceptor
- A nurse who took care of you or a family member
… And that’s a very (very) short list of possibilities! This is the beauty of the DAISY award: Nominations come from some of the most unexpected places, which shows how big of an impact nurses have in the community.
Eligibility criteria to be nominated for a DAISY award
Interested in nominating an extraordinary nurse for this award, but not sure what to say when you nominate him or her?
DAISY award nominees do have to meet some basic criteria. Most notably, your nominee must be a nurse, a nurse faculty member, or a nursing student at the organization you are nominating them at. This is truly the most important criterion.
Additional criteria will vary by the organization (for example the hospital or school) that the nominee works at. If you’re looking for a few examples, healthcare organizations might be looking for a list of traits like this one by Cal State Fullerton, which includes
- Serves as a role model and mentor for professional nursing.
- Demonstrates enthusiasm for teaching, learning, and nursing that inspires and motivates students.
- Demonstrates interest in and respect for learners.
- Is fair and unbiased in his/her treatment of individual students.
- Develops collaborative working relationships with students and colleagues
Similarly, the MayoClinic adds that the selection committee might look for traits like
- Recognized obvious and subtle needs of patients or their loved ones.
- Used their skills and talents to address concerns for other people.
- Eased pain and offered hope in ways that were meaningful to patients or their loved ones.
- Exemplified the kind of nurse that patients, loved ones and staff recognize as an outstanding role model.
- Mobilized resources to assist patients and loved ones in their time of need.
There’s no way to guess if your nominee will win, but as long as they’re a nurse helping provide extraordinary care, there’s a good chance they might!
What do DAISY award recipients get?
DAISY award recipients are also called DAISY award honorees. In addition to some of the great perks below, DAISY award recipients also get a gift bag, cinnamon rolls to share with their unit/organization, and a banner to hang at their institution to honor this big achievement.
A fancy certificate
This certificate is placed in an elegant portfolio and states that the nurse nominee is an “Extraordinary Nurse.”
DAISY Award Pin
If you see a small black and green pin on someone’s badge, congratulate them on a job well done!
The Healer’s Touch Sculpture
One of the coolest parts of being a DAISY award honoree is receiving a beautiful, hand-crafted Healing Touch Sculpture. The DAISY Foundation works closely with Shoa artists in Zimbabwe, who spend a great deal of time and effort creating these sculptures. These sculptures are incredible and have such a cool story behind them, so I would highly encourage you to read about them if you can.
Fame (AKA a website feature)
DAISY award recipients get featured on the DAISY Foundation’s website. The feature includes a photo of the award recipient as well as the story behind why they were nominated.
Professional development opportunities
Upon winning the DAISY award, recipients can access TONS of nursing education benefits. While the list is too long to detail for you here, some of the coolest benefits I’ve seen include
- Access to a wide variety of scholarships
- Reduced tuition rates at certain institutions
- Lower fees for certification exams
- Discounts on conferences and journals
- Introduction to a wonderful group of nurses … and some great professional networking opportunities!
Continuing education can be expensive as a nurse, so these perks shouldn’t be scoffed at!
How about DAISY award nominees?
Those who were nominated for a DAISY award but did not win are considered DAISY award nominees.
This is still a huge achievement, and these nominees receive:
- A copy of the nomination (which usually includes lots of sweet stories and positive things about the nominee)
- A nominee pin
- A thank you card from the leadership team at their institution
Is getting a DAISY award a big deal?
Honestly, yes! If you have been nominated for a DAISY award (even if you didn’t “win”), this is a huge accomplishment. This award truly is an award for extraordinary nurses and proves just how much of an impact you have in the world as a nurse.
What is the highest award for nurses?
Though the DAISY award is pretty high on the list, the Florence Nightingale Medal is considered the highest medal that can be awarded to a nurse. It’s a very cool medal with an even cooler story (not to mention the previous recipients are absolute bada**es)!
Still have some unanswered questions about the DAISY awards? Check out some other Frequently Asked Questions.
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