Daisy Award
We are proud to partner with The DAISY Foundation to honor the compassionate care of our extraordinary nurses throughout the year.
What is the DAISY Award?
DAISY is an acronym for Diseases Attacking the Immune System. The DAISY Award is an international recognition program that honors and celebrates the skillful, compassionate care nurses provide every day. The Foundation was formed in January 2000, by the family of J. Patrick Barnes who died at age 33 of complications of Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (ITP). The Daisy award is given to recognize the super-human work nurses do every day all over the country. Nurses receive the DAISY Award for their clinical skills, compassionate care, exemplary service, and continued commitment to excellence.
Recent Daisy Award winners include:
Michaela Nickel, RN, IPC
Nomination Year: 2023
Nominated by: Cheryl B. (Story 1), Chuck B. (Story 2), Co-worker (Story 3), and Alan C. (Story 4)
Story #1: “Michaela is a nurse who deserves special recognition. Her dedication to nursing is apparent as is her wisdom. It goes beyond education. She has a knowledge that is gained from experience and observation of her patients. I was admitted with a kidney infection. Being 72, I have many other health issues as well. I was in pain and my temp spiked to over 103. I was on IV fluids and at one point became extremely short of breath. Michaela was compassionate and stayed nearby. She was patient with my consistent “I can’t breathe” statements because I was scared. Whenever there was a situation like that, she was immediately on a call to the physician on my behalf with great suggestions for my care, and I was soon facing relief. She not only gave great basic comforting care, she went above and beyond that. When I told her about a personal crisis I have been facing, she shared with me a bit of her own life experiences. As the day progressed my shortness of breath continued. I noticed that she chose to sit and chart and do any computer work at a desk near me. Michaela will always be in my heart as the nurse who helped me get through a scary, painful experience.” - Cheryl B.
Story #2: “I spent an overnight stay mid-February of 2024 at WRMC health spa enjoying being pampered before, during and after knee replacement surgery. I had no expectations of enjoying my visit! While everyone was great, my nurse Michaela really stands out as my firm, organized, professional, knowledgeable, patient and pleasant nurse. After my surgery Michaela and her assistant technician Alicia were attentive and responsive. I can be a bit ornery and stubborn at times, Michaela was quite concerned with my proper bladder function as apparently the medications pumped into my body are known to interfere here. After monitoring me for the day Michaela was insistent on using a catheter to relieve my bladder and I was equally insistent that this not be done due to horror stories I'd heard in my past. Well, she won out and the catheterization went smoothly and basically painlessly. Thankfully, my plumbing started working after that, thank you for being firm, Michaela! When it was time for me to leave Michaela thoroughly and patiently reviewed my care since arriving and provided a thorough and detailed summary of the meds and the times, I received them as well as my med plan written out with times and frequencies going forward. The med order was called into the local pharmacy, and I picked them up shortly after leaving the hospital. All things considered, my visit at the WRMC health spa was productive and successful. I'm able to walk without the walker this morning of the second day after surgery. I'll be back for a shoulder replacement in the future. Thank you, Michaela, Alicia and all of the staff at WRMC!" - Chuck B.
Story 3: "Michaela is a brand new nurse and you could never guess it by the way she works. Michaela always advocates for her patients. Whether it be changing the plan of care to be more accommodating for the patient or simply switching a medication time She is very thorough in her care. Michaela does everything she possibly can for each and every person she takes care of. Any patient would be lucky to have Michaela as their nurse. She is trustworthy, caring, and calm." - Co-worker
Story 4: "Great understanding and professional work ethic. She is a great communicator. Always explained the procedure she was going to do. Wish her the very best." - Alan C.
Sarah Wedl, RN, Orthopedics & Sports Medicine
Nomination Year: 2023
Nominated by: Melissa F. - Co-worker (Story 1) and Patient Family Member (Story 2)
Story #1: "I would like to nominate Sarah for a Daisy award. Sarah goes above and beyond for the patients she helps care for, their families, and her co-workers. She has a positive attitude, is organized and shows so much compassion. She is a team player and has a wiliness to help anyone that needs help even if she is really busy. Sarah was going to the 2nd floor to show a family member where their loved ones room was. I asked her if she could grab the bed for me because I had some things going on and I couldn’t leave the floor. She happily did it for me and I appreciate that more than she will ever know. She fills all of our polar cubes for the shoulder patients and that just makes live a lot easier. There was a Family member that stopped Sarah in the hallway that was not even an ortho patient. She willingly helped this family instead of asking someone else to take care of it and even showed them how to get to the patients room. Nursing is her true calling. Thank you for all your kindness and compassion Sarah it does not go unnoticed."
Story #2: "Sarah is the perfect nurse to be in the role of the ortho navigator. While everyone is hustling and running around in the surgery department, Sarah, has a job to be able to take the time with family and patients to help explain and ease the procedure/surgery anxieties. She made us feel so at ease during a stressful day. She ensure that all of our questions were answered. She made sure that our daughter had everything that she would need to be comfortable at home during the healing process. Sarah even took the time to check on our daughter when she wasn't even at the hospital to ensure that we obtained the supplies that we needed. Our family appreciated the kindness, the questions that were answered, and the compassionate care that was provided."
Courtney Mueller, RN, Emergency Department
Nomination Year: 2023
Nominated by: Patient family members
Story #1: "My 66-year old husband stopped breathing at the home of our second daughter who called 911 immediately. I had just seen him briefly at noon, and I heard he had a wonderful day traveling to Watertown with his grandkids. The six EMTs who came super fast had to restart his heart and get his breathing started before delivering him to Watertown Regional MC. When I finally got there, I met Courtney. Even though he would eventually be airlifted to Milwaukee and spend two more days attached to life-sustaining apparatus, he probably had already experienced significant brain injury he could not recover from. He would end up leaving my side to go meet his Lord and Savior with all five of my children surrounding him in the early hours of Monday and singing the hymn “Amazing Grace” But back in Watertown, although the doctors seemed to have an inkling of the seriousness of his condition, I am so impressed with how Courtney treated us. She seemed genuinely stricken by our plight but also somehow exuded hopefulness. Her smile and bright face encouraged us to share things about Larry and she explained everything they had to do to prepare him for the airlift to Milwaukee. She encouraged us to talk to him and touch him before he left, and she let us watch him get loaded into the helicopter and then watch until it disappeared into the sunrise. For such a devastatingly scary event, it was beautiful. I imagined him already going to heaven. When we came back in, Courtney again surrounded us with empathy and answered all our questions. My daughter Erin has lived in Watertown for 16 or so years—how blessed she is to live in a town with such professional and kind health care workers like we experienced in Courtney and the other staff as well."
Story #2: "Courtney was my dad’s nurse when he came into the ER. She was so good at explaining everything she knew about his current status and also let us know what care he could be receiving. Once we knew he needed to be transferred she was advocating for us and him the whole time. She was so patient with our endless questions and made sure all of my family members were informed and taken care of. She worked hard to get my dad transferred to another hospital, and when he was med flighted, she allowed us to take a video of him flying away, which meant so much to our family. Even after he left the hospital, she continued to make sure that we were clear on the new hospital rules and that we had everything we needed to be able to take care of him once he left Watertown. We knew from the very start that my dad was in good hands and that Courtney genuinely cared about doing everything she could to help him and take care of us emotionally as a family."
Story #3: "It’s hard for me to put into words what Courtney did for us and meant to us on June 23, when my father-in-law went into the ER at midnight after having his breathing and heart stop at our home. She was incredibly kind, empathetic, and so helpful with our many questions as we were there at that very hard time in the ER. She was always there for us and was ready to help us in anyway that she could. She advocated for my father-in-law and helped my wife and I as we were there alone wondering if he would make it. I don’t know what we would’ve done that night without her professionalism and support. We were very blessed to have her. Thank you, Courtney!"
Chad Kelsey, RN, ICU
Nomination Year: 2023
Nominated by: Patient Family Member
Story: “Today I accompanied my parents to the hospital for a procedure that my dad had with Dr. Volkert. We spent the day in the ICU under the care of Chad, the RN. What a saint! He was so patient with my dad, who had so many questions and asked those same questions over and over again due to intermittent confusion. He explained things so well and made sure discharge instructions were understood. Chad was so attentive to my dad's needs, but also to my mom and me. I truly appreciate the time he spent with us and for his calm and patient demeanor. Thank you!"
Click here to nominate non-nurse for BEE Award