by Sheryl Marlar
Two faculty members in the Tanner Health System School of Nursing have received a DAISY Award from the DAISY Foundation based in California. Tena Barnes Carraher, one of the co-founders of the foundation, presented the awards to UWG recipients Lourdes Cody and Dr. Michelle Byrne.
Nominees for the Diseases Attacking the Immune System (DAISY) award.
After Tena's husband, Patrick, passed away in 1999 from complications from Idiopathic Thrombocytopenia Purpura (ITP), Tena and family members looked for a way to remember him.
“We wanted to do something to capture his special spirit, to turn our grief into something positive,” Tena said. “The only positive experience was his nurses and the care they gave to him and to us.”
As a result, they started a non-profit organization and called it the Diseases Attacking the Immune System (DAISY) Foundation. They realized that, first and foremost, they wanted to say thank you to the nurses for the care they had given Patrick.
The DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses was created so nurses would know how deserving they were of society’s respect. As the foundation grew, a board member who was a former nursing school dean presented the idea of extending the award to nursing faculty as well.
“This way, students and administrators can tell their stories of the difference their faculty made to them,” Tena explained. “Many of your students will never forget you.”
Currently, the DAISY Award is implemented in over 2,000 healthcare facilities in the United States as well as 14 countries. It is also present in 150 nursing schools.
Faculty can be nominated by students, administrators, and other faculty members. This year, there were a total of 32 nominations for 19 faculty members in UWG’s Tanner Health System School of Nursing. Some of the criteria for nominees include serving as a role model of professional nursing, demonstrating enthusiasm for teaching, learning and nursing, and being fair and unbiased in the treatment of students.
In addition to Lourdes and Dr. Byrne, the other 17 faculty members nominated were Tiffany Casper Bolton, Dale Howard, Melissa Larimore, Mary Bishop, Tina Warren, Joan Carlisle, Linda Mason Barber, Ladonia Patterson, Betty Ishoy, Pamela Horvath, Susan Welch, Carol Wilson, Holly Dever, Janice Wilder, Sharon Cumbie, Lisa Robinson, and Cynthia Brown.
All nominees were presented with a commemorative pin and a certificate.
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