A mother recently compared her gripping care journey for her critically ill son to an African story she had read. In the story, a tribe traveled a great distance to a remote African village for medical care, passing several camps along the way where help was available.
According to the story, when a missionary in the village asked why the tribe traveled so far for the same care they could have received closer to home, they replied it was because of the deep trust they had in the caregivers at this particular village.
The mother said this was exactly how she felt about the nurse who had cared for her son. She recalled telling him, “I would travel a long way for your hands — to know that my son was going to get cared for by you.”
She went on to nominate her son’s nurse for a DAISY Award, explaining that sharing their journey was part of their healing process. She said it was vitally important to her to know that her son’s nurse would receive recognition for the compassionate care he provided — care the family will never forget.
This story highlights a powerful truth that we've come to understand about those who nominate nurses for a DAISY Award. Each nomination carries a deeply personal and emotional story, making the nomination of a nurse a profoundly meaningful gesture of gratitude.
That’s why it’s immensely important to ensure that everyone who takes the time to nominate a nurse knows their nomination was received, their nurse has heard their heartfelt feedback, and nominators understand the next steps in the award process.
Expressing and receiving gratitude
In 2020, the DAISY Foundation collaborated with Get Well, one of our industry partners, to make online nomination forms available on our website for all DAISY partner organizations. This made it easier for family members, patients, or colleagues to nominate a nurse or nurse-led team to healthcare organizations that honor their nurses with the DAISY Award.
This initiative resulted in a large influx of nominations for our partner organizations and numerous inquiries from nominators to The DAISY Foundation. They wanted to confirm that their nominations had been received, ensure their nurses were informed of the nominations, and learn if their nurses were selected to receive the award. Many wanted reassurance that their nominations hadn’t fallen into a “black hole.”
Anecdotal evidence reinforces what we learned from a small qualitative study conducted in 2019 at Beaumont Health (now Corewell Health) in which patients who had submitted DAISY Award nominations were interviewed about what it meant to them to express their gratitude in this way.
Inspired by those insights, we began planning a more extensive, multisite study to validate and expand upon these initial findings. While the COVID-19 pandemic delayed these plans, we’re excited to announce that we’ll partner with Memorial Hermann Health System’s Institute for Nursing Excellence this year to bring this larger study to life.
We’ve always believed that DAISY Award programs have a role in the patient experience. And we know that expressing gratitude strengthens connections, builds trust, encourages positivity, and inspires kindness. Now, we will have more evidence to show how important it is for patients to be able to thank their nurses and how important it is for healthcare organizations to inform nominators about the outcome of the heartfelt nominations they submit.
We call this “closing the loop,” and it’s one of our top priorities.
Given that reaching out to nominators is additional work for DAISY partner organizations, a best practice we’ve been sharing is asking retired nurses in the community to assist DAISY committees. They can be instrumental in filling this communication gap by sending confirmation emails when nominations are received and keeping them updated on the next steps in the process and the final results.
We’re also collaborating with the AARP to launch a nationwide network of retired nurses in the first quarter of 2025 to help support DAISY Award programs.
For nurses, receiving gratitude acknowledges their hard work and can boost their morale. Hearing “thank you” can also counter burnout and stress and promote trust and respect between nurses and patients.
Meaningful recognition uplifts nurses and contributes to a more empathetic and effective healthcare system. And patients and families have made it clear they'd appreciate confirmation that their nurse received their heartfelt gratitude. So consider reviewing your recognition processes to address any communication gaps and help close the loop.
