Goodyear Nurse Recognized for Compassion with DAISY Award

As a cancer nurse at Dignity Health St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center, Goodyear resident Marilou Dela Paz, RN, was recently honored with the DAISY Award, which recognizes nurses who display skillful and compassionate care.

Respectful of everyone she encounters, Dela Paz provides patients and their loved ones with outstanding patient care above and beyond the role of a nurse.

Although the floor in the cancer unit where she has served since becoming a nurse in 2003 can be challenging, Dela Paz faces her challenges by always moving forward with a positive attitude. Additionally, Dela Paz teaches many new nurses about the sensitivity and warmth that marks nursing care at Dignity Health. Demonstrating her commitment to quality in nursing, Dela Paz was the first nurse on her unit to achieve designation as a Certified Medical-Surgical Registered Nurse.

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 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.”