Nominate a Health First nurse for the prestigious DAISY Award

The DAISY (Diseases Attacking the Immune System) Award was created by a former California patient’s family to thank and honor nurses around the country as they deserve profound respect and recognition for the education, training, brainpower and skill they put into their work.

Health First nurses can be nominated for this prestigious award by fellow associates, patients or visitors. To nominate a nurse, click on the link below.

Nominate a Health First Nurse

Click here to fill out the form to nominate a nurse for the DAISY award.

You can fill out the form and email it to daisy@health-first.org. You can also fill out the form, print it out and drop it into one of the DAISY Nomination boxes located throughout Health First:

• Nurses’ stations at the hospitals
• Reception desks at the hospitals

DAISY Award recipients will be selected on a quarterly basis from nominations that are submitted by the first of the month prior to the award month. Awards will be given in November, February, May and August.

The winners will be presented with a certificate, a special DAISY pin and a hand-carved Shona sculpture entitled “A Healer’s Touch.”

To find out more about the DAISY award, visit www.DAISYfoundation.org.

Current DAISY Award Winners

• Julie Barrington, RN 2N-PCU, at Health First’s Cape Canaveral Hospital was the DAISY Award winner for the month of April with three nominations. Julie is a two-time recipient of the DAISY Award. Julie began her career with Health First on January 14, 1991, and has grown to become a leader among her peers. A member of the stroke committee and the wound team, Julie has committed to providing excellent care and outcomes for her patients. One of the three nominations mentions the care and compassion Julie gave to their loved one while at the same time helping them to cope with a diagnosis of a terminal illness. Julie is a valuable asset to both Cape Canaveral Hospital and our patients.
• Health First's Palm Bay Hospital: Jenni McKinney, Clinical Charge Nurse of Med/Surg Unit at Palm Bay Hospital, was nominated for the Daisy Award by several of her co-workers, and was chosen as Palm Bay Hospital's Daisy Award Winner for third quarter. She listens to staff concerns and makes improvements to make the work flow consistent. She always maintains a calm demeanor and inspires staff to reach their potential, and provides excellent care to the patients. Jenni is an excellent patient advocate, a very kind and compassionate nurse, and it shows in her bedside care. She is an outstanding nurse. We are lucky to have her as a Charge Nurse, as she makes coming to work a pleasure and always makes everyone feel appreciated. She is more than deserving of the Daisy Award.
• Health First’s Holmes Regional Medical Center recognizes and honors Susan Pellerin, RN, as one of our extraordinary compassionate nurses and the winner of the DAISY Award. The DAISY Award Foundation was created by the family of a patient whose life was taken at an early age due to complications of an auto-immune disease. This is a very prestigious and important national award that is given to RNs who demonstrate and reinforce the patient/family centered care of the ICARE values, as well as adhering to the mission, vision and goals of the organization. This award program is generously funded for our nurses by the Health First Foundation.

Susan was nominated by two sons whose mother she cared for. The sons said in a letter, "Susan was the utmost professional and took such great care of our ailing mother while...keeping us up to date on her status and explaining in detail what was happening. ... It's obvious you have many fine people on your staff but it's hard to imagine anyone being better than Susan Pellerin."

Susan's professionalism, strong communication and caring attitude make her a true asset to the Health First team.

Congratulations Award winners!