Pennsylvania Western University Department of Nursing has recognized three student nurses and a nurse educator with DAISY awards.

The DAISY Award is an international recognition program that honors and celebrates the skillful, compassionate care provided by nurses. It was founded by the family of Patrick Barnes, who died of an autoimmune disease, to thank the nurses who cared for him. DAISY stands for “Diseases Attacking the Immune System.” The awards, presented through the DAISY Foundation, have recognized nurses since 1999 and nursing faculty since 2010.

Last year, the foundation added the student category and expanded the faculty category to include all nurse educators.

Recipients of the DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nursing Students are Jacqueline Drahos from the Doctor of Nursing Practice program, Abigail Lonjin from the Bachelor of Science in Nursing program and Dakota Bauer from the Associate of Science in Nursing program. Drahos completed her degree online, and Lonjin and Bauer attended classes on the Clarion campus. Eligibility extends to all levels of student nurses who have the opportunity to exhibit compassionate care with their patients and/or patients’ families.

Dr. Randilyn Lewis received the Nurse Educator Award, which recognizes exceptionally skilled and compassionate nursing educators for their pivotal role in shaping the nursing workforce and setting an example for future nurses. Lewis teaches on the Clarion campus. To be eligible, a nominee must be a nurse and be full-time nursing faculty or tenured faculty, part-time faculty or adjunct faculty, or a clinical instructor.

Spotlight pages at daisyfoundation.org include excerpts from the recipients’ letters of nomination.

Drahos: Drahos worked on a quality improvement project of providing post-discharge phone calls to new moms within one week of discharge to enable identification of problems and provision of postpartum interventions in a timely fashion. This supports patients transitioning from frequent prenatal visits to the immediate postpartum period. It provides an extra level of care and oversight for patients.

Lonjin: Abigail took a job caring for a local young woman who was diagnosed with a terminal illness two years ago. She provided compassionate care to the patient and did everything in her power to try and make her situation better each day. She was a bright light for the family during a very dark time.

Bauer: Dakota exemplifies compassion and extraordinary care in everything she does. She consistently provides exceptional care to her patients during clinical rotations, always going above and beyond to advocate for their needs. She is always willing to lend a helping hand, ensuring that everyone feels supported.

Lewis: Dr. Lewis shines as a nurse and educator. She’s an outstanding nurse who goes above and beyond for all of her students and her patients. Whether a patient needs motivation to keep going, mental health assistance, education, life-or-death medical treatment, or a strong patient advocate, Randilyn is who anyone would want standing next to them. Randilyn is an outstanding role model for her students and has a profoundly positive impact on everyone she encounters.