Josie Reed, RN, CGRN, didn’t think she was doing anything special one recent day in Ambulatory Care, but patient Linda Royce felt differently. Royce, who’d nominated Reed for the DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses at University of Vermont Health Network – Central Vermont Medical Center (CVMC), returned to share her sentiments and motivations as Reed received the honor in a surprise presentation recently.
“All of the nurses here are exceptional,” Royce told the colleagues, hospital leaders and nominating committee members assembled for the ceremony, “but I really related to Josie. She embodies all of the qualities of being a nurse — compassion, emotion, enthusiasm, knowledge.”
Reed, a certified gastroenterology nurse who’d been nominated for the DAISY Award more than five times before receiving the honor, said she’s most inspired by “finding that connection with patients.”
“This means a lot to me,” Reed added, but was quick to share the accolades with her colleagues. “We work great as a team and we work well together.”
The DAISY (Diseases Attacking the Immune SYstem) Award for Extraordinary Nurses™ is an international recognition program honoring and celebrating the skillful, compassionate care nurses provide every day. It was first awarded at CVMC in February 2017. Current/former patients, family members and friends are encouraged to nominate nurses who have provided extraordinary care at www.cvmc.org/daisy-awards.
Earlier this year, Murphy Neenan, RN, earned CVMC's DAISY Award after being nominated by a patient’s family member for being “so kind, gentle and empathetic when talking to my 84-year-old dad. She found a way to connect with him.”
Like other nurses who’ve received the award, Neenan, who then worked on CVMC’s medical-surgical unit, found the accolades "very unexpected. Education is part of my job. It's part of my personal practice," she said.
Both nurses were greeted by colleagues, members of CVMC’s DAISY Nominating Committee and Chief Nursing Officer Matt Choate, who presented the award and all that goes with it – the DAISY pin, a sculpture titled "The Healer's Touch" and cinnamon rolls, which have a mystique all their own. Learn more or nominate a nurse at www.cvmc.org/daisy-awards.
About The University of Vermont Health Network
The University of Vermont Health Network is an academic health system that is comprised of six affiliate hospitals, a multi-specialty medical group and a home health agency. We serve residents of Vermont and northern New York with a shared mission – working together, we improve people’s lives. Our partners include:
- The University of Vermont Medical Center
- The University of Vermont Health Network Medical Group
- The University of Vermont Health Network – Alice Hyde Medical Center
- The University of Vermont Health Network – Central Vermont Medical Center
- The University of Vermont Health Network – Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital
- The University of Vermont Health Network – Elizabethtown Community Hospital
- The University of Vermont Health Network – Porter Medical Center
- The Visiting Nurse Association of Chittenden and Grand Isle Counties
Our 4,000 health care professionals are driven to provide high-quality, cost-efficient care as close to home as possible. Strengthened by our academic connection to The University of Vermont, each of our hospitals remains committed to its local community by providing compassionate, personal care shaped by the latest medical advances and delivered by highly-skilled experts.
Photo 1 (Josie Reed, DAISY nurse): Josie Reed, RN, CGRN, and nominator Linda Royce, center, with, from left, CVMC Chief Nursing Officer Matt Choate, President and Chief Operating Officer Anna T Noonan and members of the hospital’s Ambulatory Care and Endoscopy teams.
Photo 2 (Murphy Neenan, DAISY nurse): Murphy Neenan, RN, holding award, is pictured with colleagues, members of the DAISY Nominating Committee and Chief Nursing Officer Matt Choate, who presented the honor and all that goes with it — the DAISY pin, a sculpture titled "The Healer's Touch" and cinnamon rolls.