Antenatal Nurse Honored by Patient with DAISY Award

Colleen Donahue, RN, was recently honored with the DAISY Award for demonstrating skillful and compassionate care.

A nurse at Dignity Health St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center for 16 years, Donahue was nominated for the award by a patient who called Donahue one of the best nurses, saying, “She goes out of her way to make you feel as comfortable as possible and she truly cares.”

Antenatal nurses like Donahue provide care for pregnant women who need more long-term care prior to their delivery. As such, Donahue carefully considers each patient’s needs, and their loved ones needs, describing complex health care processes in terms that make it easy to understand. Her peers consider themselves fortunate to have Donahue on their team.

The DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses is part of The DAISY (D)iseases Attacking the Immune System Foundation’s program to recognize the super-human efforts which nurses make every day.

The not-for-profit DAISY Foundation, based in Glen Ellen, Calif., was established by J. Mark Barnes and his family in memory of his son J. Patrick Barnes. J. Patrick died at the age of 33 in 1999 from complications of Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (IT)P, a little-known autoimmune disease. The nursing care Patrick and his family received while he was ill inspired this unique means of thanking nurses for making a profound difference in the lives of their patients and families.

“We are proud to be among the hospital systems participating in The DAISY Award program,” says Patty White, president and CEO of Dignity Health St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center. “Nurses are heroes every day. It’s important that our nurses know their work is highly valued, and The DAISY Foundation provides another way for us to do that.”