Melissa Franz, RN, receives DAISY Award
Dignity Health Woodland Memorial Hospital is proud to honor our nurses and recognize the compassion and care they provide to our patients each and every day with the DAISY Award for extraordinary nurses. The award is part of the DAISY Foundation's program to recognize and express personal, heartfelt appreciation to nurses for the important difference they make in all the lives they touch.
Woodland Memorial Hospital joined the DAISY Foundation in May 2015 and our first DAISY Award recipient is Melissa Franz, RN. Melissa is a nurse in the Intensive Care Unit, and was nominated by a patient, Sandy Meadows, she cared for in the unit. After presenting herself in the emergency department at Woodland Memorial Hospital with stomach pains, Sandy was diagnosed with a life threatening illness. After four surgeries; time spent with many specialists; and weeks in the ICU, Sandy was on her way to recovery. Throughout her time at Woodland Memorial Hospital, Melissa was by her side, offering her words of encouragement and hope. “Melissa is not only kind, she’s real, honest, and human,” said patient Sandy Meadows. “My experience with nurses in several different hospitals is that you are just another patient. Melissa made me feel different, she relates to her patients and I’ve never had another nurse before her or since as special as she.”
The not-for-profit DAISY Foundation is based in Glen Ellen, CA, and was established by family members in memory of J. Patrick Barnes who died at 33 of ITP, an auto-immune disease. The DAISY Award was established because the Barnes Family was awestruck by the clinical skills, caring and compassion of the nurses who cared for Patrick, so they created this international award to say thank you to nurses everywhere.
Each quarter, a nurse will be selected by Woodland Memorial Hospital’s nursing administration to receive The DAISY Award. At a presentation given in front of the nurse’s colleagues, physicians, patients, and visitors, the honoree will receive a certificate commending her or him for being an "Extraordinary Nurse." The honoree will also be given a beautiful and meaningful sculpture called A Healer’s Touch, hand-carved by artists of the Shona Tribe in Africa.
One day while Pat was in the hospital, he asked his family to bring him a Cinnabon® cinnamon roll plus enough for all the nurses in his unit. With the help of Cinnabon’s parent company, FOCUS Brands, The DAISY Foundation carries on this tradition by serving Cinnabons to all the nurses in the Award recipient’s unit in thanks for everything they do for their patients and families.
"When Patrick was critically ill, our family experienced first-hand the remarkable skill and care nurses provide patients every day and night. Yet these unsung heroes are seldom recognized for the super-human work they do,” said Bonnie Barnes, President and Co-Founder of The DAISY Foundation, The kind of work the nurses at Woodland Memorial Hospital are called on to do every day epitomizes the purpose of The DAISY Award.”
“We are proud to be among the hospitals participating in the DAISY Award program. Nurses are heroes everyday,” said Kim Deese, Chief Nurse Executive at Woodland Memorial Hospital. “It’s important that our nurses know their work is highly valued, and The DAISY Foundation provides a way for us to do that.”
See the complete listing of hospitals currently running the program.
This is one initiative of The DAISY Foundation whose overall goal is to help fight diseases of the immune system. Additionally, DAISY offers J. Patrick Barnes Grants for Nursing Research and Evidence-Based Practice Projects and provides assistance to ITP support groups.
Publish date:
Thursday, September 10, 2015