New Nurse Get Daisy Award?

[Nurse Beth, MSN]

Dear Is it Uncommon,

Created in 1999, the DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses  honors compassionate care provided by nurses caring for patients and family members. The website tells us that "DAISY Nurses are recognized for the acts of kindness and the sensitivity they demonstrate every day – the things that make a profound difference in a patient's experience in healthcare". 

Those words have wonderful intention, and it's true that nurses make a profound difference in so many ways, every day, every shift.

But in actual practice, DAISY Awards are not always that meaningful.  They could be, they were intended to be, but there's a lack of measurable criteria that makes the process subjective.

Families and patients as well as anyone in the organization can nominate nurses for the award. Intended to recognize nurses who provide above-and-beyond compassionate care, it can instead recognize the most outgoing, bubbly nurse-who is not otherwise an excellent practitioner.

I recently saw a nomination for a nurse who let a Covid patient face time on her phone when visitors were restricted. Kind gestures in times of crisis can feel profoundly moving and I'm sure the family was very appreciative. But to to me that seems like something we all would do.

It also boils down to the ability of the writer in many cases. Eloquent and expressive writers have a better chance of their nominee winning.

Back to your question, a new nurse may be an appropriate candidate because it's based on perceived values such as compassion and excellence, and not on expertise. New nurses are less likely to be burned out than experienced nurses and from a patient point of view, it's very possible they felt the new nurse went above and beyond in delivering compassionate care or expressing compassion. So while I don't know exactly how common it is, I can definitely see it happening.

How does everyone else feel about the doughnuts as a prize for the winner's unit? Just curious ?

Best,

Nurse Beth

[scribblz, BSN, CNA, LPN]

Nurse Beth said:

Dear Nurse Beth,

Would you say that's uncommon for a nurse who has been a nurse less than a year to get a Daisy Award?

To answer your question I'm never mad about being fed ?

That being said I do think charm plays a great deal into people winning awards... But I also like to see my colleagues be recognized for their acts of kindness/ excellence whether they are heroic saves or just everyday that meant a lot to somebody.

As nurses and human beings it can be a gut reaction to feel a little resentful or jealous when someone receives recognition and you feel like you yourself are not seen. But we all just have to rise above that and realize that life is not pie someone else being recognized does not take away from our value and self worth ?