Nominations Open For Awards Honoring 'Extraordinary' Nurses

RIVERHEAD, NY — After a year like no other, nurses are being honored for their dedication and sacrifice.

This week, Peconic Bay Medical Center announced the opening of nominations for the nationwide Daisy Foundation's "Awards for Extraordinary Nurses" program.

The program was created by family members in memory of J. Patrick Barnes, honoring his team of nurses and celebrating outstanding efforts by nurses, PMBC said. Barnes died at 33 in 1999 from complications of idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, an auto-immune disease, PBMC said.

"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," PMBC said.

And with national Nurses Week celebrations scheduled through Wednesday, PBMC said the time was right for kicking off the nominations.

“These awards recognize the efforts of people who thoroughly believe that going above and beyond the call of duty is just a regular part of their daily job,” said Amy E. Loeb, executive director of PBMC. “Nurses don’t like to seek praise or recognition for all that they do. The community would never hear about these daily acts of extraordinary heroism without awards like this. We are very glad to have this opportunity to honor our everyday healthcare heroes.”

And, said Christine Kippley, PBMC's chief nursing officer and vice president of patient care services: “After what we have been through together over the last year, these awards are particularly appropriate at this time. Virtually every nurse on our staff is deserving of multiple awards. Honoring any of them will be like honoring them all.”

Award nominations can be made by any patient or family member wanting to acknowledge care provided by any nurse or nursing team on the PBMC staff over the past year or more.

Nomination forms are available at the hospital or can be made online.