Nurses at UPMC Chautauqua celebrate with their Daisy Award honoree Karen Samuelson, RN, fourth from left in front.

On April 9, UPMC Chautauqua celebrated its first ever DAISY Award honoree, Karen Samuelson, RN of ICU. The DAISY Award is an award that celebrates nursing excellence, and Karen has demonstrated that she goes “above and beyond” in her practice.

She was nominated by a fellow nurse on her unit, Leeanne Sadowski, RN, who had been witnessing the way that Karen takes care of her patients and their families. Every quarter, a new nurse will be chosen by the Professional Practice Council of nurses. Anyone can nominate a nurse- there are several boxes throughout the facility that contain the nomination forms to fill out and either mail in (instructions are on the forms), or drop in one of the boxes throughout the facility.

The DAISY Foundation was started in 1999 by the parents of a young gentleman, J. Patrick Barnes, who developed a rare autoimmune disease, ITP, or Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura. Tragically, after spending 8 weeks in the hospital, Patrick died at the age of 33. Patrick’s parents, Mark and Bonnie Barnes, saw not just the clinical skills used by the nurses, but the way they delivered their care- with compassion and kindness. DAISY stands for Diseases Attacking the Immune System: an award that honors nurses that make extraordinary differences in the lives of their patients and their families.