The Daisy Award

The DAISY (Diseases Attacking the Immune System) Award is an international recognition program that honors and celebrates the skillful, compassionate care nurses provide every day. In late 1999, at the age of 33, Patrick Barnes woke up with some blood blisters in his mouth. A visit to the doctor revealed he had a dangerously low platelet count and he was admitted to the hospital. The diagnosis was the autoimmune disease ITP (Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura). The DAISY Foundation was established by Barnes’ family after he died from complications of ITP in 1999.

Patrick’s family was so touched by the compassionate care both he and his family received while he was hospitalized. When he died, they felt compelled to say “thank you” to nurses in a very public way, so they created this award to recognize those outstanding nurses that go above and beyond every single day.

According to Patrick’s father, Mark, says, “We wanted to give patients, families, and co-workers an easy way to express their gratitude for nurses who provide extraordinary compassionate care.  And we wanted the program to honor nurses all year long – not only during Nurses Week.  At the time we started the program, we could not have anticipated that The DAISY Award would come to be regarded as a strategic tool for nurse recruitment, retention, and resilience, adopted by healthcare facilities across the continuum of care all over the U.S. and beyond. The creative ways nurses and their organizations have brought The DAISY Award to life to honor compassionate care have inspired and delighted us.”