SUQUAMISH — Joseph Smith, RN, at VA Puget Sound Health Care System received the DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses, presented by The DAISY Foundation and UnitedHealthcare, at a special ceremony Nov. 20 in Seattle.

Smith, of Suquamish, received a certificate commending him for being an “Extraordinary Nurse” to his veteran patients. The certificate reads: “In deep appreciation of all you do, who you are, and the incredibly meaningful difference you make in the lives of so many people.”

DAISY is the acronym for Diseases Attacking the Immune System. The DAISY Award was established in memory of J. Patrick Barnes by his family. Barnes died in 1999 at the age of 33 from complications of Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura.

Each month, nurses in more than 1,500 participating hospitals are nominated by their colleagues and patients to receive The DAISY Award.  The honorees receive a certificate commending outstanding clinical care and a designation of being an “Extraordinary Nurse.” The certificate reads: “In deep appreciation of all you do, who you are, and the incredibly meaningful difference you make in the lives of so many people.” The honorees are also given a sculpture called “A Healer’s Touch,” hand-carved by artists of the Shona Tribe in Africa. An excerpt from Smith’s nomination form read: “Whenever Joe is caring for one of my patients, I have confidence that the patient will receive excellent, detail-oriented care. More importantly, I always know Joe will go beyond the expected care and will treat the patient with love and dignity. Just one example is a patient with terminal cancer metastatic to the spine. Joe went out of his way to make sure the patient had a wheelchair to take home on a Friday afternoon, so that he could leave the hospital to be with his family. Despite the high workload and patient-to-nurse ratio, I know that Joe is efficient and follows through with orders in a timely fashion. He is a great comfort to these patients and a huge asset to our community at the VA.”

Smith told his colleagues, “Life can be frustrating at times. The question is, as a nurse, are you a compassionate nurse — because that’s your profession — or are you a compassionate person because that’s who you are? And I would like to say that as nurses, we are compassionate people.”