Nurses Receive DAISY Award for Extraordinary, Compassionate Care

Nurses across MyMichigan Health were recently honored with The DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses®. The award is part of the DAISY Foundation’s mission to recognize the extraordinary, compassionate nursing care they provide patients and families every day. Those receiving the award were: Nicole Moline, R.N., MyMichigan Medical Center Alma; Shelley Cooke, R.N., MyMichigan Medical Center Alpena; Alison Kosiara, R.N., MyMichigan Medical Center Clare; Nick King, R..N., MyMichigan Medical Center Gladwin; Elisha Gatten, R.N., MyMichigan Home Care Hospice; Terry Hilliard, R.N., MyMichigan Medical Center Midland; Katie Dore, R.N.; Jordan Wilga, R.N., MyMichigan Medical Center Saginaw; Elena Rasaiah, R.N., MyMichigan Medical Center Sault; Kelly Mackenzie, R.N., MyMichigan Medical Center Standish; Rachel Holmstrom, R.N., MyMichigan Medical Center Tawas, and Lisa Awrey, R.N., MyMichigan Medica Center West Branch.

“We continue to be proud to participate in the DAISY Award program,” said Marissa Palmer, D.N.P., R.N., system vice president of nursing services, MyMichigan Health. “Nurses go above and beyond every day. In fact, it’s the quiet moments of healing when the extraordinary compassion of a nurse shines brighter than any accolade. We’re so proud of all our nurses and it is important they know their work is highly valued. The DAISY Foundation provides a way for us to do that.”

Nurses are nominated for a DAISY Award by patients or their family members, fellow nurses, staff, volunteers, health care providers or other personnel. Award recipients are chosen by a committee at MyMichigan Health to receive the DAISY Award. Awards are presented twice a year, in November and May, at a celebration attended by the nurse’s colleagues and nominator. Each honoree receives a certificate commending him or her as an ‘Extraordinary Nurse,’ a DAISY Award pin and a meaningful sculpture called A Healer’s Touch, hand-carved by artists of the Shona Tribe in Zimbabwe.

The DAISY (Diseases Attacking the Immune System) Foundation is a non-profit organization, established in memory of J. Patrick Barnes by members of his family. Barnes died at the age of 33 from complications of Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (ITP), a little-known but not uncommon autoimmune disease. The care Barnes and his family received from nurses while he was ill inspired this unique means of thanking nurses for making a profound difference in the lives of their patients and families.

“When Patrick was critically ill, our family experienced first-hand the remarkable skill and care nurses provide patients every day and night,” said Bonnie Barnes, co-founder of the DAISY Foundation. “Yet these unsung heroes are seldom recognized for the super-human, extraordinary, compassionate work they do. The kind of work the nurses at MyMichigan Health are called on to do every day epitomizes the purpose of the DAISY Award.”

Those who would like to learn more about the DAISY Award, or who would like to nominate a nurse, may visit www.mymichigan.org/daisy.  Shelley Cooke, R.N., MyMichigan Medical Center Alpena, second from left was one of 12 nurses across the MyMichigan Health system recently honored with The DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses®. She stands with (left to right): Jackie Hincka, Heidi Romanowski and Jessica McEwen.

More photos at https://www.mymichigan.org/about/news/2025/daisy-awards/