Registered nurses, Michael Painter and Eric Balka have been named the January 2012 recipients of the hospital’s DAISY Awards. Both nurses work on the Surgical Intensive Care Unit at Franciscan St. Francis Health-Indianapolis.
The DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses is a national program that honors the compassionate care and clinical excellence. Franciscan St. Francis localized the program in 2010 to recognize its nurses for their achievements.
Painter was nominated for his compassionate care of a patient. “Mike understood the stress and emotional turmoil we had been through. I will never forget his kindness,” wrote the daughter of the patient. “He should be the poster employee for customer excellence.”
Balka was nominated by a patient’s family member. “Eric was very knowledgeable, compassionate and understanding,” wrote the family member. “Instead of simply answering our questions, he gave additional information about her condition that helped us to understand what had happened and what was about to happen.” “He gave us comfort through a very difficult time.”
The DAISY Award was established by the DAISY Foundation in memory of J. Patrick Barnes who died at 33 of an auto-immune disease. His family was so impressed by the clinical skills, caring and compassion of the nurses who cared for him that they created this national award to say “thank you” to nurses everywhere. For more information, go to www.daisyfoundation.org.
To learn more about nursing careers and programs at Franciscan St. Francis, go to www.stfrancishospitals.org/nursing.
