Nursing Graduates Honored for Compassionate Care

From left are Ami Denton, director of nursing programs at Edgecombe Community College; Anna Zinn, DAISY in Training Award winner; Renee Mayo, vice president of patient care services at ECU Health Edgecombe Hospital; Jennifer Poole, ECC nursing instructor; and Michaela Dew, DAISY in Training Award winner.

Recent Edgecombe Community College Associate Degree Nursing graduates Michaela Dew and Anna Zinn received the DAISY Foundation’s DAISY in Training Award during the nursing pinning ceremony in May.

They received a certificate, a DAISY in Training Award pin, and a hand-carved stone sculpture entitled A Healer’s Touch.

Both Dew and Zinn graduated from the Associate Degree Nursing program during the college’s commencement ceremony on May 12.

Students are nominated for the DAISY in Training Award by patients, families, visitors, staff, and instructors based on the level of compassion, advocacy, and leadership they demonstrate during clinical training.

The DAISY Foundation was established in 1999 in memory of J. Patrick Barnes, who died at the age of 33 from complications of the autoimmune disease Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura. Patrick’s family was touched by the compassion and skill demonstrated by his nurses during his illness, so they created DAISY to recognize exceptional nurses everywhere.