The Power Of Appreciation: How Recognizing Nurses Changes Healthcare with Bonnie Barnes, co-founder of The DAISY Foundation

[00:00:01] This podcast is produced by Outcomes Rocket, your healthcare exclusive digital marketing agency. Outcomes Rocket exists to help healthcare organizations like yours to maximize their impact and accelerate growth. Visit outcomesrocket.com or text us at 312-224-9945.

[00:00:29] Hey everyone, welcome back to the Outcomes Rocket podcast. I'm so thrilled to have Bonnie Barnes with us today. She is the co-founder of The DAISY Foundation. They're doing extraordinary things for nurses internationally in memory of Patrick Barnes, her son. She's here to tell a story because it's one that needs to be known. Bonnie, welcome to the podcast. Thank you, Saul. It's great to see you again as always.

[00:00:55] It's so great to see you, Bonnie. I've had the chance to have a front row seat to what you and your husband do with what the team does at hospitals for nurses, but I don't think our listeners and viewers have. So let's give them the benefit of just getting them to know what you guys do and why it makes such a big impact. Tell us about you, Bonnie. Tell us about DAISY. Oh, thank you. Well, let me start by telling the story of why we are so passionate about nurses and the care they provide every day.

[00:01:22] And it dates back now 25 years ago that my stepson, Patrick died of complications of the autoimmune disease, ITP. He was 33 years old. He and his wife, Tina, had just given us our first grandchild six weeks before he woke up one morning with some peculiar symptoms. He went to the doctor and had some blood drawn and found out he had a dangerously low platelet count. And very quickly, he was sent to the hospital with this diagnosis of something we'd frankly never heard of.

[00:01:52] Well, when Tina called us and told us he was going to the hospital, my husband, Mark, and I figured we'd go to Texas where they lived and be with him for a few days while he got over this thing. And then we'd all go back to doing what we were doing before Patrick got sick. But that's not what happened. He got really sick in the hospital. And I will spare you and your audience details of what happened over the following eight weeks that he was in the hospital. But suffice it to say, they were the worst weeks of our lives. And at the end of that time, Patrick died.

[00:02:21] When he passed away, Tina and Mark and I started talking very quickly about how in the world could we fill that gaping hole in our hearts that his death had left? How could we turn our attention back to something positive because we'd been in a very dark place for two months on this emotional roller coaster? And how could we do something to keep Patrick's very special spirit alive? And as we talked, we found ourselves reflecting on the care his nurses had provided throughout those eight weeks.

[00:02:51] We knew they were going to be terrific from a clinical perspective. Of course, we expected that. But here's what we did not expect and what really took our hearts. Patrick's nurses treated him and all of us in our family with so much compassion and sensitivity and kindness that we just realized when he died, our hearts were filled with gratitude to his nurses and we needed to find a way to say thank you. So DAISY stands for Diseases Attacking the Immune System.

[00:03:19] And we created the DAISY Award to give patients and families and colleagues, for that matter, a way to share their gratitude and tell their stories of the unique difference that nurses make every day in their practice. We thought if we could say thank you to nurses in five, maybe 10 hospitals in the U.S., we'd feel better. And we could go back to doing what we were doing before Patrick got sick.

[00:03:43] Today, 25 years later, there are over 7,100 healthcare facilities and nursing schools in 43 countries committed to honoring nurses month in and month out with the DAISY Award. We cannot believe the movement of recognition that has happened as a result of this little start we did 25 years ago. Well, Bonnie, thank you for sharing that story. Just incredible thing for your son that you're doing here.

[00:04:11] An incredible thing for nurses. And it's very moving, folks. Like I've had a chance to be in the room where a nurse is getting recognized. They get recognized for their special efforts and patients vote. They put a little card inside of a box and they vote. And just an incredible opportunity for us to recognize nurses. And the cause is just so special. Bonnie, I understand you guys have written a new book. It's called Shining the Light on All the Right.

[00:04:42] Talk to us about that. And why is it such an important book for folks to know about? Well, five years ago, we felt, Mark and I, that we needed to write down our story, the journey of how we went from Patrick's bedside to what, five years ago, we had about 4,000 healthcare facilities in our large international community. We thought we were really making great progress here. We wanted to tell our story.

[00:05:07] So we wrote the book with an incredible, not so ghost-like writer who really helped us do this. And we were thrilled at the response because it was a way for us to share not only our story, but frankly, all the nurses and nurse leaders who really made Daisy, Daisy. They're the ones who took us by the hand, nurtured our mission, helped us understand the healthcare profession and nurses' role. And they just brought Daisy to life with us.

[00:05:36] So we wanted to acknowledge the many, many nurses that had such a big part of our mission. And now, five years after the original edition was written, we felt strongly given the pandemic and so many changes in healthcare. And frankly, at Daisy, that we needed to write an update. And so we wrote the 25th anniversary edition. It has all new Daisy honoree stories in it, new pictures, and it just goes through the pandemic and everything that's affected nurses

[00:06:04] and how Daisy has grown through that time. I have to say, it's a beautiful story and I don't take much credit for it, but Mark and I did record an audio version of it where we actually read the book. Oh, I love it. Which is a whole lot of fun for people who are interested and love to listen to audio books, as I do quite often. So we hope that your audience will take a look, shining the light on all the right, celebrating the art of nursing around the world. And what would you say your goal is with the book, Bonnie?

[00:06:35] Well, again, it's to say thank you to the many, many nurse leaders who helped us create this program and spread it worldwide, but also to share with nurses how deeply we at Daisy feel about the work they do every day. Work that we know nurses take for granted, but has a huge impact on patients and families and on co-workers who see the extraordinary happening every day. So I think it's a great big statement of our gratitude to the nursing profession. I love it, Bonnie.

[00:07:05] And folks, definitely take a listen. I think you'll find it very inspiring. And I also want to plug an opportunity for all of the people that are interested in being part of this movement. Bonnie and her team work with partners that help with sponsorship of the amazing things that they do. And if you're a nurse wanting to know more, Bonnie, tell us how folks could get in touch with you and the team if they want to partner with you guys as an organization

[00:07:32] or if they're a nurse leader that wants to do more with the program. Thank you for asking, Saul. Well, we have a robust website and it's daisyfoundation.org. And there you will find not only information about all the ways the Daisy Award is honoring nurses wherever they practice and wherever they are in their careers and how you can engage with the program. We have a phenomenal team that is really expert at helping healthcare organizations

[00:08:00] and nursing schools elevate a Daisy program to be extremely sustainable and most importantly, meaningful. So using the website, of course, there's a way to talk to us directly about how you can partner with us, sponsor us, make a donation to us, whatever it is you want to do. It's all on daisyfoundation.org. Amazing. I love it, Bonnie. Thanks for the opportunity. For everybody tuning in, make sure you check out the show notes where we're going to put a link to the Daisy Foundation's website,

[00:08:29] a link to the book so you could get a copy for it yourself. Get that inspiration. Spread the love. Now's the time. Bonnie, thanks for being with us. Oh, what a pleasure, Saul. Thank you for the opportunity. I wish you well. You too. This podcast is produced by Outcomes Rocket,

[00:08:58] your healthcare exclusive digital marketing agency. Outcomes Rocket exists to help healthcare organizations like yours to maximize their impact and accelerate growth. Visit outcomesrocket.com or text us at 312-224-9945.