Good Samaritan Honors Five Individuals & Two Units in DAISY Award Celebration December 20, 2024 Staff, administrators, families and friends joined DAISY award winners in an awards celebration at Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center. Vanessa Ville, RN, from the Center for Women and Families; Victoria Churich, RN, from the Emergency Department; and Lucas Caruana, RN, from the Intensive Care Unit were honored with DAISY nursing awards. Krisa Gigon, RN, and John Blenkinsopp, DNP, RN, were awarded DAISY nurse leader awards. Additionally, a team from the Intensive Care Unit and the entire staff from the Center for Women and Families were honored with Good Samaritan’s first team awards. The DAISY Foundation is a nonprofit organization established in memory of J. Patrick Barnes. Barnes died at the age of 33 from complications of idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, an autoimmune disease. The care he received inspired his family to create the award to thank nurses for making a profound difference in the lives of patients and their families. Patrick Barnes’ stepmother, Bonnie Barnes, marked the 25th anniversary of the internationally renowned awards program with a personal video message specific to Good Samaritan and the the group gathered in Conference Rooms A & B. Chelsea Moise, regional program director, who attended remotely, shared the history of the DAISY award with the audience. According to the DAISY Foundation, more than 6,500 health care organizations representing 40 countries currently participate in the program. To date, 2.5 million nominations have resulted in more than 220,000 nurses being honored worldwide. Patients, families and co-workers can nominate a nurse for a DAISY Award at samhealth.org/DAISY. More information is available at daisyfoundation.org. Caption: Several of the fall DAISY Award team and individual winners pose for a photo after the ceremony.
