PACU Nurse Receives DAISY Award

Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital’s Department of Nursing recently honored Post Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU) nurse Chris Malone, BSN, MPA, RN, CPAN, CCRN, with a DAISY Award.

Malone was nominated by the Nursing Professional Recognition and Advancement Committee. His nomination letter, submitted on behalf of the committee by ICU Clinical Leader Ellen McCarthy, MSN, RN, CCRN, reads:

Chris Malone has shown exemplary work ethic during the COVID-19 pandemic. When he learned that additional staff was going to be needed to care for patients in the ICU, he volunteered to help out. Although, Chris had not worked in the ICU for many years, he sought needed information from his professional organizations to augment his critical care skills to allow him to be successful in his quest to provide competent care during the crisis. Chris joined the ICU staff without hesitation and became a team player offering his help wherever and whenever needed. Chris worked the night shift, weekends and you would often hear him say “I’ll work whenever you need me.” He went above and beyond by obtaining his CCRN certification and a micro certification as COVID-19 specialist from AACN. Chris’s drive and enthusiasm allowed him to jump into unchartered waters and provide compassionate and competent care to his patients. We as the PRAC Committee wholeheartedly feel Chris should be recognized for his professional devotion with a DAISY Award.

Malone was presented with his DAISY Award by members of nursing leadership, the Nursing Professional Recognition and Advancement Committee and his supportive co-workers. 

“This was very humbling; I feel so not deserving,” says Malone. “It is the critical care nurses that day in and day out gave the Faulkner community what they needed. I was able to fill a small role during the initial phases and then periodically since, but it was only with the help, guidance and support of the ICU team that I was even remotely successful. The real ICU nurses helped, guided, supported, encouraged and carried me through this entire experience. It is really them that should receive this honor,” says Malone.

Read more about Malone’s time working in the ICU here.

The DAISY Award, established by the DAISY Foundation, is named in memory of J. Patrick Barnes who died at the age of 33 from Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (ITP), an auto-immune disease. The Barnes Family was inspired by the care that Patrick received and established this unique program to recognize and thank the nurses nationwide who make a profound difference in the lives of their patients and families.

To learn more about the DAISY Foundation, click here.

BWFH DAISY nurses consistently demonstrate excellence through their clinical expertise and extraordinarily compassionate care. They are recognized as outstanding role models in our nursing community and make a profound difference in the lives of their patients and their family members. Patients, visitors, nurses, physicians and employees may nominate a deserving nurse by completing a nomination online.