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Nurses at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital Weill Cornell Medical Center have been honored today with The DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses. The award is part of The DAISY Foundation's program to recognize the super-human efforts nurses perform everyday. The DAISY Award is the country's first national program to be conducted by patients and their families to honor nurses.

The first award recipient is John Fiddler, RN, Senior Staff Nurse at The William Randolph Hearst Burn Center at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital Weill Cornell. John, who has worked in the Burn Center for almost five years, performed extraordinary work with the victims of the September 11 World Trade Center tragedy, and is currently enrolled in graduate school in a Nurse Practitioner program.

According to Robert Dembicki, RN, Nurse Manager of the Burn Center, "John deserves this award on both talent and personality. In addition to his extraordinary skill as a critical care burn nurse, he is an extremely caring individual with an engaging sense of humor that calms and reassures his patients and their families."

The not-for-profit DAISY Foundation, based in Glen Ellen, CA, was established by J. Mark Barnes and his family in memory of his son J. Patrick Barnes, who died at the age of 33 in late 1999 from complications of ITP, a little known but not uncommon auto-immune disease. The care Patrick 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 patient families.

One day each month, a nurse will be selected to receive The DAISY Award. They will receive a beautiful and meaningful African Shona Tribe sculpture titled "A Healer's Touch," provided through the support of the Spirits In Stone Gallery in Sonoma, CA; dinner for two at Petaluma Restaurant (1356 First Avenue in New York); a luxurious massage at Metamorphosis Day Spa (127 E. 56th Street in New York); and a large bouquet of daisies. The recipient will also receive a framed certificate commending her or him as "Extraordinary Nurse." The certificate reads: "In deep appreciation of all you do, who you are, and the incredibly meaningful difference you make in the lives of so many people."

On the same day, The DAISY Foundation will deliver Cinnabon cinnamon buns to all nurses in the unit in thanks for everything they do for their patients and families. Cinnabons had always been a favorite of Patrick's, and when he was ill, he frequently asked his father to bring them to the nurses as his way of saying thanks.

Said Mark Barnes, President of The DAISY Foundation, "When my son Patrick was critically ill, my family and I experienced first-hand the remarkable skill and care nurses provide acutely ill patients every day and night. Yet these unsung heroes are seldom recognized for the super-human work they do. The kind of work the nurses at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital Weill Cornell Medical Center are called on to do everyday epitomizes the purpose of The DAISY Award."

"We are proud to be among the hospitals participating in the DAISY Award program," said Cynthia Godfrey, MSN, RN, CNAA, BC, Director of Nursing Operations and Critical Care Nursing at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell. "Nurses are heroes everyday. Given the current national nursing shortage, the DAISY Award could not be launched at a better time. The Awards are a wonderful way to recognize nurses' commitment to providing the very best care to their patients."

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital Weill Cornell Medical Center (New York City) is among fourteen hospitals in the nation so far to be honored with The DAISY Award. The others are The Seattle Cancer Care Alliance at the University of Washington Medical Center (Seattle), Cedars Sinai Medical Center (Los Angeles), San Francisco General Hospital (San Francisco), UCSF Medical Center (San Francisco), UC Davis Medical Center (Sacramento, CA), Sonoma Valley Hospital (Sonoma, CA), St. Francis Medical Center (Lynwood, CA), Washoe Medical Center (Reno, NV), Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital (Santa Rosa, CA), Baptist St. Anthony's Medical Center (Amarillo, TX), Rapides Regional Medical Center (Alexandria, LA), San Diego Hospice (San Diego), and Southbury Training School (Southbury, CT). The Foundation is dedicating at least half of the money it raises to The DAISY Award recognizing extraordinary nurses, and plans within a year to have at least twenty hospitals in the program.

The DAISY Foundation

The DAISY Foundation's overall goal is to help fight diseases of the immune system. Additionally, DAISY has programs to help fund research to improve treatment and ultimately cure ITP (Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura), including a grant to Dr. James Bussel of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital Weill Cornell Medical Center. The Foundation also contributes to bone marrow and blood donation drives, and provides support for ITP patients and their families. More information is available on their website, www.daisyfoundation.org.

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital is a 2,369-bed academic medical center created from the merger between The New York Hospital and The Presbyterian Hospital. It provides state-of-the-art inpatient, ambulatory, and preventive care in all areas of medicine at five major centers: New York Weill Cornell Medical Center, Columbia University Medical Center, Children's Hospital of NewYork-Presbyterian, The Allen Pavilion, and the Westchester Division. One of the largest and most comprehensive health-care institutions in the world, the Hospital is committed to excellence in patient care, research, education, and community service. The NewYork-Presbyterian Healthcare System — which includes acute-care and community hospitals, long-term care facilities, ambulatory sites, and specialty institutions — ensures high-quality, cost-effective, and conveniently accessible care to communities throughout the tri-state metropolitan region. The System serves one in four patients in the New York Metropolitan area. The Hospital has academic affiliations with two of the country's leading medical colleges: Joan and Sanford I. Weill Medical College of Cornell University and Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons.