Roper St. Francis Honors Nurses with DAISY Awards
National Foundation’s Program Recognizes ‘Super-Human Efforts Nurses Perform Everyday’
September 12, 2005

Two Roper St. Francis Healthcare nurses were recently chosen to receive The DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses, a national program that recognizes the “super-human efforts nurses perform everyday.”

Odessa Williams, RN, of Roper Hospital’s Women’s Center, and Susan Ramsey, RN, of Bon Secours St. Francis Hospital’s Gastrointestinal Services, were joined by nursing colleagues, physicians and family members at an August 29 presentation where each was commended for “the incredibly meaningful difference” they make in the lives of so many people. Both nurses also received an African Shona Tribe sculpture called “A Healer’s Touch” and a DAISY Award pin.

“Nurses are heroes every day,” said David L. Dunlap, Roper St. Francis Healthcare President and CEO. “It’s important that our nurses know their work is highly valued, and The DAISY Foundation provides a way for us to do that.”

Williams and Ramsey are the first Roper St. Francis RNs to receive the DAISY Award. Williams, who has practiced nursing for 29 years, was commended not only for the outstanding care she gives her patients every day, but also for the leadership and mentoring she provides to her nursing colleagues. Ramsey, recognized for the compassionate care she provides to patients, was described as a “positive role model in the community, regularly volunteering at a local shelter.”

Roper St. Francis is among more than 50 medical facilities throughout the United States currently honoring nurses with the DAISY Award. The healthcare system’s nursing administration will continue to recognize a nurse from each of the hospitals on a quarterly basis.

The Award, which is being cosponsored locally by Sandpiper Retirement Community, was established by the not-for-profit DAISY Foundation in Glen Ellen, CA, for the elimination of Diseases Attacking the Immune System and in memory of J. Patrick Barnes who died in 1999 from complications of ITP (Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura), a little known but not uncommon autoimmune disease. Patrick’s parents established the foundation in his memory because of their first hand experience with highly skilled and caring nurses.