Aspirus Langlade Hospital (ALH) presented a DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses to Heather Krosnicki, Hospice and Palliative Care Nurse. This award is part of the DAISY Foundation's mission to recognize the extraordinary, compassionate nursing care they provide patients and families every day.
Aspirus Langlade Hospital DAISY Award recipients are nurses recognized for going above and beyond patient expectations by providing service with respect, compassion, and integrity; generating enthusiasm and energy while carrying out everyday duties and responsibilities; significantly making a difference and listening not only with ears but also with heart. Nurses may be nominated by patients, families, and colleagues. The award recipient is chosen by a committee at Aspirus Langlade Hospital to receive The DAISY Award. Awards are presented two times per year. For the May 2022 Award there were 54 nominations received.
Krosnicki was nominated for the DAISY Award by a co-worker. The nomination reads: Hospice nurses are often called angels; Heather Krosnicki is one of those angels. Heather answered the call from a patient's daughter reporting a change in condition and didn't hesitate to make a late-night visit. She took the time to listen to the family's concerns and treated them with the same care she would her own family. She then went into the back bedroom to assess the patient. She could see he was changing and that his daughter was beyond exhausted from caring for him. You see he had been having terrible terminal restlessness and became frightened whenever alone. Heather then did something the family will never forget, Heather hugged the daughter and told her she would sit with her dad while the daughter rested for a little while. On a Thursday night despite working all day and having a baby at home Heather saw an opportunity to live our mission and values by demonstrating a level of compassion and empathy few on Earth are capable of. When the daughter woke from her nap a few hours later, she found Heather in a chair next to the hospital bed holding her father's hand, both sound asleep. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, well this picture of Heather holding his hand is worth so much more than that. Thank you, Heather, for being our very own hospice angel.
As a DAISY Award recipient Krosnicki received a certificate that 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," a DAISY Award Pin to wear on her name badge and a beautiful and meaningful sculpture called A Healer’s Touch, hand-carved by artists of the Shona Tribe in Zimbabwe, Africa. Additionally, Krosnicki and co-workers were treated to cinnamon rolls which honor the memory of the late Patrick Barnes who once ate his father’s cinnamon roll when he was in the hospital without an appetite for food. He then requested one for the next day – and enough for all the nurses in the unit. The hope is that whenever a nurse smells that wonderful cinnamon aroma, they’ll stop for a minute and think of how special they are for being a nurse.
Heather’s family attended the ceremony in person much to her surprise while more family members, friends and many colleagues attended the award ceremony via Zoom.
The DAISY (Diseases Attacking Immune SYstem) Award is an international recognition program that honors and celebrates the skillful, compassionate care nurses provide daily. Used in over 1,300 health care facilities, the DAISY Award was established by the family of J. Patrick Barnes after he died from complications of the autoimmune disease ITP in 1999. The care Patrick and his family received from nurses while he was ill inspired this unique means of thanking nurses for making a profound difference in the lives of their patients and patient families. Aspirus Medford Hospital & Clinics’ DAISY Award winners are named annually during National Nurses Week.