The DAISY Awards is an international recognition programme that honours and celebrates the skilful and compassionate care provided by nurses and midwives each day. It has been created to give the opportunity for patients to say thank you by sharing their story of how a nurse made a difference.

Katrina King

Katrina King, receiving her DAISY highly commended certificate along with flowers

Katrina is a Ward sister on Abbey Ward at Abingdon Community Hospital. The ward provides rehabilitation and support for patients. As part of her role she is also a domestic violence champion offering advice and support to any members of staff or family members if needed.

The person who nominated Katrina said that she was her “confidant” and that “this amazing lady kept me going through this devastating time. I couldn’t have done this without her, an extraordinary, sympathetic, kind and generous lady.”

Katrina said: “I was so surprised. When some of senior management team started to show up on my late shift, I thought something was wrong.  When they gave me the award, I was so emotional, it meant so much to me.

“I have worked on Abbey Ward for two and a half years now. The support from my peers throughout this time was amazing and I probably would not have got where I am now without them.

“I have a very open and honest policy and give as much support to all my staff as I can. I don’t have a door on my office which is based in the reception area, so that I am available to staff and visitors if they wish to talk to me.  Giving praise and saying thank you at the end of the day goes a long way, give respect and you receive it back.

“I feel extremely proud of what I have achieved over the last 12 years going to college, then university, qualifying as a nurse and now a Ward Sister, this recognition has been one of the best highlights of my career so far and I am very grateful and humbled by it.”

Coralie Prince

Coralie Prince with her DAISY highly commended certificate

Coralie is a district nurse based in Witney helps care for patients and their families in their own homes. As a district nurse she looks after adults who have needs that can be met in their own environment such as home or another community setting, for example a day centre. As a district nurse the majority of patients they work with are older people with complex health problems, or people needing palliative or end-of-life care.

Coralie said: “I felt honoured and surprised to receive my DAISY award. I thought I was attending a meeting so was completely overwhelmed with the thoughtfulness of the award.  I have worked for the past 24 years as a district nurse for the Trust.”

The nomination Coralie received stated: “She delivers care dignity and support to all the patients she meets. Coralie provides excellent end of life care ensuring the patient is always comfortable and that the family have the opportunity to care for their dying relatives with support.”

“The role is extremely varied, and every day is different, but I particularly enjoy end of life care. As a district nurse I am in a unique position of ensuring we deliver that ‘one chance to get it right’ care at the end of someone’s life; so therefore feel very touched that this is why I received the DAISY award.”

Charlotte Ballard

Charlotte Ballard with her DAISY highly commended certificate

Our final highly commended award was given to Charlotte Ballard, charge nurse. The nomination said: “Charlotte was an extremely good listener and helped developed the necessary skills to live and manage all the different aspects of living Glyme ward. Charlotte was genuine and dedicated to her role as my primary nurse.”

When Charlotte received her award, she said: “I have to say it was really touching to receive the award and the written feedback from a previous patient. It had been quite a difficult few months and receiving that award made me remember why I enjoy the job and why I do what I do! It can be rare that you get a thank you day to day, so it was really nice to see someone had taken time to submit the nomination.”

If you have received outstanding care then why don’t you nominate your nurse for a DAISY award by clicking the following link.