Three Valley Medical Nurses Earn DAISY Awards

Three extraordinary nurses have been named esteemed DAISY Award honorees of the quarter at Valley Medical Center, including Toni Wolcott, RN, BSN, Critical Care Unit (CCU); Holly Davis, RNC, Birth Center; and Rae Huggins, RN, Emergency Department (ED). Nominated by their peers, physicians, patients and families, other staff and administrators, these nurses not only exemplify clinical skill and leadership, but especially strong patient care and compassion.

The “DAISY (Diseases Attacking the Immune SYstem) Award for Extraordinary Nurses” program through the DAISY Foundation honors and celebrates nurses for the skill and compassion they bring to patients and families every day.  

Toni Wolcott was nominated for demonstrating the care and concern that exemplifies an outstanding nurse. Through her consolation and knowledge she helped the family of a CCU patient deal with a devastating prognosis.  In her nomination, a member of the family remarked, “I don’t think I could have made it through this day without her care and compassion.”

Birth Center nurse Holly Davis is described by her peers and patients as caring, compassionate, helpful, extraordinary, amazing, professional, and an angel in a nurse’s uniform. Holly recently cared for a patient in preterm labor who experienced complications. “Holly is an amazing nurse who put me and my feelings before anything else. I felt safe around Holly. I felt comforted and more of a person and less of a patient. You can’t really put that kind of care into words.”

Rae Huggins loves being an ED nurse. Recently he was caring for a teen who had been in a serious auto accident. She was afraid she was going to die from her injuries. To calm her, he relayed his own experience of being in a car accident as a teen, and reassured her that she would recover. He stayed with her during a critical medical procedure and he continued to check on her even after she moved to a different location in the hospital, and when he was off duty. The teen’s family says “He is a one-of-a-kind nurse. Valley Medical Center is lucky to have him. We were lucky Valley Medical Center has him. He made a horrific time in our lives easier just by caring, just by loving what he does! Rae went above and beyond.” 

Valley Medical Center joined the DAISY Awards program in May 2012. Up to three deserving nurses are honored each quarter; a total of nine nurses have been named DAISY Award honorees to date at Valley Medical Center. 

The DAISY Award is an on-going recognition program in partnership with healthcare organizations that celebrates the extraordinary skill and compassion direct care nurses bring to their patients and families. Since the DAISY Award Program’s inception in February 2011, over 20,000 nurses have received this recognition and more than 120,000 nominations have been written.

 *Editor's Note: Information provided by Valley Medical Center.