SSM Health
December 18, 2024
WAUPUN — Hailey Wagner, RN, Family Birth Suites, has been named as a DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses winner at SSM Health Waupun Memorial Hospital.
The DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses® is part of The DAISY Foundation’s mission to recognize the extraordinary, compassionate nursing care they provide patients and families every day.
The DAISY Foundation is a not-for-profit organization, established in memory of J. Patrick Barnes by members of his family. Patrick 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.) The care Patrick and his family received from nurses while he was ill inspired this unique means of thanking nurses for making a profound difference in the lives of their patients and patient families.
Nurses may be nominated by patients, families and colleagues. The award recipient is chosen based on specific criteria to receive The DAISY Award. Awards are presented to one recipient on a quarterly basis at celebrations attended by the honoree’s colleagues, patients, and visitors.
Wagner was nominated by a patient who wrote:
“We arrived to labor and delivery in the middle of the night and Hailey enthusiastically made us comfortable. She was attentive to all the small details and made sure both my husband and I had everything we needed. Our daughter was ready to make her entrance right at shift change, but Hailey stayed into the morning to keep continuity of care. I won’t forget how calm and collected our stay was due to having a very special nurse care for us.”
Wagner was recognized in early December during a brief ceremony. She received a certificate commending her as an “Extraordinary Nurse.” The certificate reads: “In deep appreciation of all you do, who you are, and the incredibly meaningful difference you make in the lives of so many people.” Honorees also receive a DAISY Award pin, and a beautiful and meaningful sculpture called A Healer’s Touch, hand-carved by artists of the Shona Tribe in Zimbabwe.
“When Patrick was critically ill, our family experienced first-hand the remarkable skill and care nurses provide patients every day and night,” according to Bonnie Barnes, FAAN, president and co-founder of The DAISY Foundation. “Yet these unsung heroes are seldom recognized for the super-human, extraordinary, compassionate work they do. The kind of work the nurses Waupun Memorial Hospital are called on to do every day epitomizes the purpose of The DAISY Award.”
More information is available at http://DAISYfoundation.org.
