DAISY October 2020 Extraordinary Nurses Award Winner at Cody Regional Health

October 15, 2020 (Cody, WY) – Nurses at Cody Regional Health are being honored quarterly in partnership with The DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses ®. The award is part of the DAISY Foundation's mission to recognize the extraordinary, compassionate nursing care they provide patients and families every day.

The DAISY Award recipients are being recognized for their compassionate, extraordinary care. The first-ever Cody Regional Health Honoree is Kathy Mathieu. Her nomination was made by a patient and it reads “She has all of the DAISY qualities. She cares and talks about any and every issue I am going through. She has empathy. She has helped me with several situations like getting nicotine patches through the Quit Line. Giving me advice and trust. She is very friendly and honest. She has a true love for nursing because she honestly cares about people. Very selfless. I love it when she works."

By becoming an Honoree of the DAISY team, Kathy has additional opportunities for nursing conference scholarships and additional awards. She will receive international recognition as well as ongoing internal recognition for her compassionate, extraordinary care.

The DAISY Foundation is a not-for-profit organization, established in memory of J. Patrick Barnes, by members of his family. Patrick died at the age of 33 in late 1999 from complications of Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (ITP), a little known but not uncommon auto-immune disease. (DAISY is an acronym for Diseases Attacking the Immune System.) The care Patrick and his family received from nurses while he was ill inspired this unique means of thanking nurses for making a profound difference in the lives of their patients and patient families.

Nurses may be nominated by patients, families, and colleagues. The award recipient is chosen by a committee at Cody Regional Health to receive The DAISY Award. Awards are presented throughout the year at celebrations attended by the Honoree’s colleagues, patients, and visitors. Each Honoree receives a certificate commending her or him as an "Extraordinary Nurse." The certificate reads: "In deep appreciation of all you do, who you are, and the incredibly meaningful difference you make in the lives of so many people." Honorees also receive a DAISY Award pin and a beautiful and meaningful sculpture called A Healer’s Touch, hand-carved by artists of the Shona Tribe in Zimbabwe.

Said Bonnie Barnes, FAAN, President and Co-Founder of The DAISY Foundation, "When Patrick was critically ill, our family experienced first-hand the remarkable skill and care nurses provide patients every day and night. Yet these unsung heroes are seldom recognized for the super-human, extraordinary, compassionate work they do. The kind of work the nurses at Cody Regional Health are called on to do every day epitomizes the purpose of The DAISY Award.”

Said Chief Clinical Officer, Keith Ungrund, “We are proud to be among the healthcare organizations participating in The DAISY Award program. Nurses are heroes every day. It’s important that our nurses know their work is highly valued, and The DAISY Foundation provides a way for us to do that.”

In addition to the DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses, the Foundation expresses gratitude to the nursing profession internationally in over 3,900 healthcare facilities and schools of nursing with recognition of direct care Nurses, Nurse-led Teams, Nurse Leaders, Nursing Faculty, Nursing Students, through the J. Patrick Barnes Grants for Nursing Research and Evidence-Based Practice Projects and for nurses participating in medical missions. More information is available at http://DAISYfoundation.org

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