August 15, 2022 – HCA Florida JFK North Hospital, an industry-leading 280-bed acute care facility, named its first DAISY Award and BEE Award honorees.
The DAISY Award honorees are Amanda Hipley, special procedures nurse, and Nadine Harrison, day surgery nurse, who were nominated by patients and staff for demonstrating extraordinary nursing care.
“Amanda treats her patients like family,” Amanda’s nomination said. “She is kind and considerate. She is always respectful and willing to listen. As a patient and a nurse, I feel I can trust her to take good care of me and the patients I take to her.”
“My husband was so nervous going into surgery that he was shaking and [Nadine] made sure to make him feel comfortable and relaxed,” Nadine’s nomination said. “She made the day so much better and calmed both our nerves. At the end of the day when it was time to go home, I started to feel woozy and almost fainted. Even though I was not the patient and I was just there to bring my husband home, she took great care of me to make sure that I was alright and gave me ginger-ale to help.”
The DAISY Award is an international award program by The DAISY Foundation. An acronym for Diseases Attacking the Immune System, The DAISY Foundation was formed in November 1999, by the family of J. Patrick Barnes, who died at age 33 of complications of Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (ITP). The nursing care Patrick received when hospitalized profoundly touched his family and inspired them to expresses gratitude to nurses with programs that recognize them for the extraordinary compassionate, skillful care they provide patients and families. DAISY honorees receive special benefits to advance their nursing careers, including reduced tuition, conference scholarships, special rates on certification, and more.
The BEE Award stands for “Being Exceptional Everyday” and was established to recognize non-nursing patient care partners who go beyond extraordinary expectations.
HCA Florida JFK North Hospital’s first BEE Award honorees are Georgette Hanson Johnson and Kenneth Layton, both mental health technicians for HCA Florida JFK North Hospital who were nominated for exemplary non-nursing support.
“Georgette is very attentive to our senior patients,” Georgette’s nomination said. “You will often find her giving that ‘little extra’ care to our patients. Georgette will help fix hair or give our patients a great bath.”
“Mr. Layton has been with HCA going on 30 years,” Kenneth’s nomination said. “His compassion is interlaced in everything he does for the kids and staff on the unit. Mr. Layton serves as a mentor for new and older team members.”
HCA Florida JFK North Hospital introduced the DAISY Award in conjunction with the BEE Award in March 2022 and solicited nominations from patients, families, and staff over the last three months. All nominees were recognized at the awards ceremony. These awards will continue to be given out quarterly.
“We want to recognize our employees that go beyond exceptional every day to make sure our patients and their families receive excellent care always,” HCA Florida JFK North Chief Nursing Officer Laurie Neely said.
