(Peoria, IL / March 20, 2013) – OSF Saint Francis Medical Center is pleased to announce the most recent winner of the DAISY Award, which recognizes outstanding nursing care. Winners are nominated by patients and their families.

The January 2013 DAISY Award was presented to David Zimmerman of Roanoke from the Cardio-Thoracic Unit.

His nomination reads in part: “David was not my mom’s nurse, but he was the RN taking care of the woman in the room with her. I was with my mom every day, and David simply amazed me. I listened as he conversed with (the other patient) and how she responded to him. They laughed, they talked, and he took the time to listen – he cared about what she had to say. The level of respect, dignity, and compassion he displayed was incredible! In the middle of the night, I felt compelled to stop him on his way out of the room to comment on how amazing I thought he was to which he modestly responded, ‘I’m just doing my job.’ I told him he was doing an amazing job at it and thanked him for caring so much. He had NO IDEA what an impact he made on (his patient) and me for that matter. A little compassion for a patient who had no family makes an enormous difference in their overall attitude to get better and want to go home. I was moved to tears. It takes a special person to do what nurses do and to do it with true compassion. David encompasses all of that!”

OSF Saint Francis Medical Center is the first hospital in the Midwest to participate in the DAISY Award, a national endeavor. The hospital receives approximately 180 DAISY nominations each month. From those nominations, a panel of five judges from the Professional Nursing Congress Recognition/Communication Committee at OSF Saint Francis chooses a monthly winner. Nurses who win a DAISY Award receive an award pin as well as a hand-carved Shona sculpture from Zimbabwe, an award certificate, a bouquet of daisies, cinnamon powder called “DAISY dust”, and cinnamon rolls for their entire unit.