As one of The DAISY Foundation’s community of Supportive Associations, we are delighted to offer our FNF Academy members the opportunity to nominate one of their team for a DAISY Award for extraordinary nurse and midwife leaders.
The DAISY Foundation is a not-for-profit organisation, established in memory of J. Patrick Barnes, by members of his family. Patrick died at the age of 33 in late 1999 from complications of Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (ITP), a little-known but not uncommon auto-immune disease. (DAISY is an acronym for Diseases Attacking the Immune System.)
The care Patrick and his family received from nurses while he was hospitalised inspired the creation of The DAISY Award® for Extraordinary Nurses, an evidenced-based means of providing nurse recognition and thanking nurses for making a profound difference in the lives of their patients and patient families.
Recognising Nurses and Midwives
In addition to the DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses, the DAISY Foundation expresses gratitude to the nursing profession internationally in thousands of healthcare facilities and schools of nursing around the world with an array of recognition programs that celebrate and honour Nurses, Nurse Leaders and Nurse Led Teams wherever they practice, throughout their careers from students through lifetime achievement in nursing and through several lines of grant funding.
We share The DAISY Foundation’s passion for recognising extraordinary and compassionate work of nurses and midwives and the commitment to improving healthcare by the work they do each day. And so this is the second year we have offered our Academy members the opportunity to recognise one of their workforce through a DAISY Award.
DAISY/FNF Nurse Leaders 2024
Last year Maria Dark, from Portsmouth University Hospitals NHS Trust, and Mitch Clarke, from Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, both received the prestigious DAISY Nurse Leader Award at the international DAISY Day conference in Coventry.
Nomination for an award means a lot to nurses and midwives, as Kirsty Dallison Perry, 2024 award nominee, explains:
“Being nominated and shortlisted for the 2023 Nurse Leader Award with the Florence Nightingale Foundation and the DAISY Foundation was an incredibly humbling and affirming experience. I was nominated by my Executive Director of Nursing, Professions and Quality at the time, Salli Midgley, whilst in a Head of Nursing role in a Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust. To be recognised by my manager at the time reminded me that the long hours, the challenging moments, and the emotional investment were seen and appreciated.
Meaningful recognition is important within nursing, when nurses feel valued, they are more motivated, confident, and engaged, leading to improved patient outcomes and experiences. Ultimately, meaningful recognition elevates and values the nursing profession, and can contributes to high-quality, compassionate care.
I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to represent the values of the Florence Nightingale Foundation and the DAISY Awards, and I am more determined than ever to honour that legacy in everything I do. Also, who doesn’t love a pin badge in Nursing!”
For me, the nomination wasn’t just about personal recognition—it was a celebration of the collaborative spirit that defines nursing. This moment allowed me to reflect on the mentors, team members, and patients who have shaped my journey. Their support and stories have inspired me to grow and strive for excellence, always advocating for quality in care. Being shortlisted reaffirmed my belief that leadership in nursing is not about titles or accolades, but about creating spaces where everyone feels empowered to contribute to meaningful change and that leadership should be compassionate, moral and values based.
Kirsty Dallison-Perry Head of Consultant Admiral Nurse Services, Dementia UK
Recognising Extraordinary Nurses and Midwives
FNF Academy members are invited to nominate nurse or midwife leader who inspires trust, compassion, mutual respect and ethical behaviour in the teams. This Nurse Leader impacts staff and/or the patient care they manage by:
- Role modelling excellent leadership behaviour
- Creating an environment where attributes of trust, compassion, mutual respect, continued professional development and ethical behaviour are modelled and supported
- Motivating staff with a shared vision and enthusiasm to achieve better outcomes for themselves and for their patients
- Promoting and enhancing the image of nursing within the organisation, the community and the profession
The deadline for applications is Friday 28 February 2025.
