OR staff nurse receives DAISY Award

Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital’s Department of Nursing recently honored Operating Room staff nurse Linda Gagnon, BSN, RN, with a DAISY Award. 

Gagnon was nominated by OR Nurse Director Patrice Baril, MSN, RN, CNOR, who wrote in her nomination letter:

Colleagues say, “Linda is an exceptional OR nurse. She goes above and beyond for her patients every day.” Linda collaborates with surgeons, anesthesia providers, surgical technologists, perianesthesia nurses in Pre-Op Holding and the PACU, Materials Management staff, OR assistants, radiology technologists, nurse leaders, pathologists, residents, fellows, medical students and students from ancillary health programs on a daily basis to provide excellent interdisciplinary care to her patients. Linda is an excellent teacher and precepts new staff routinely. Linda is an extraordinary patient advocate, which is the most important role of the perioperative nurse. Linda brings issues to me almost on a daily basis and offers solutions to improve our department and nursing practice in BWFH’s operating room. She is also a Magneteer. In that role, she won first place in the poster contest, sent extraordinary emails educating colleagues about Magnet and created and maintains our informational bulletin board about Magnet. She has also made many special gestures for her coworkers, including purchasing cakes to celebrate colleagues earning their BSN and celebrating birthdays. She even brought flowers for our clinical leader when she was having a stressful day due to staffing changes. Linda is constantly looking at the positives in her role and in the OR. She is always professional and epitomizes excellence in perioperative nursing. Linda communicates well with all colleagues, including leaders. She always brings safety issues forward in a calm and professional manner. Linda is a role model in the OR. I have been a nursing leader for over 20 years and a practicing nurse for 37 years and have NEVER worked with a nurse more deserving of a DAISY Award!

Gagnon was presented with her DAISY Award by members of nursing leadership, members of the Nursing Professional Recognition and Advancement Committee and her supportive co-workers. “It is such an honor to receive the DAISY Award and it has been an honor to work with an exceptional team dedicated to delivering safe, high-quality and compassionate care to patients in the OR,” she says. 

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, visit daisyfoundation.org.

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.