The Institute honors extraordinary nurses with the DAISY Award

December 8, 2023

The Institute was thrilled to recognize Nurse Joanna Hagelthorn, RN, and Nurse Tara Banks, LPN, as the winners of the Daisy Award for Extraordinary Nurses. This award, which draws upon nominations from patients, staff and community members, recognizes the care and dedication that nurses show toward our patients. On December 7, the two winners were honored at an awards ceremony at the Kingston Family Health Center as well as at a meeting of the Institute’s Board of Directors.

“The importance of the implementation of the DAISY award at the Institute is to recognize the work of our nurses,” said Cindy-Lou Killikelly, the Institute’s Chief Nursing Officer. “Through this, we hope to improve the team spirit among our teams, improve the patient and staff experience, and increase our nurses’ engagement.”

Below are two excerpts from the nominations, which are anonymous and edited for readability:

“Nurse Banks has on many occasions gone above her job title…she has made room for me to see my provider at the end of the day and stayed late on her time to get me paperwork. She has talked quietly and patiently so I can understand everything. There are so many wonderful qualities about her … it’s all the wonderful things that she has done as a nurse, and as a person that cares.”

“Nurse Hagelthorn is in a class unlike any other. When I came in for my appointment, there was an issue with my chart–she noticed the issue, informed me of it, and fixed it immediately. I was getting vaccines and she made the process painless; we were in conversation the whole time, joking even, and I hardly noticed. I admire how much she cares for her patients and how much she wants to do right by them.”

The Institute is immensely grateful to our nurses for the hard work, attention, and care that they show our patients.