WhidbeyHealth Family Birthplace nurse Nancy Manjikian, RN, received the DAISY Award recently for her work at WhidbeyHealth Medical Center.

The award honors nurses from around the world who provide extraordinary compassionate and skillful care every day.

WhidbeyHealth nurses are nominated by patients and colleagues and then chosen by an interdisciplinary, interdepartmental committee.

Some of Manjikian’s nominations reflect patients’ gratitude for her willingness to go above and beyond the call of duty.

“I was under Nancy’s care twice, once with my daughter four years ago, and then again in February. She took very good care of my girls; being sweet to them and taking them to the nursery so I was able to rest. She always asked if I needed anything during her shifts. I was very pleased that she even brought me a cheeseburger when I was having a serious craving for it. She made both my hospital stays better, and made me feel that my children and I were in great hands — like being cared for by a very loving mother.”

Several colleagues were equally as grateful for Manjikian’s work ethic and left comments similar to those expressed by Cassie Pendergrass, OB CNA.

“I feel it is very appropriate to nominate Nancy for the DAISY Award, as she has led by example of what we aspire to for our quality of care in OB, and in any aspect of nursing. She is compassionate, informed and astute to the needs of our patients and staff. She is also a fellow employee that you can count on and will go to great lengths to provide support for her fellow staff.”

“She is also always positive and bubbly, which is infectious to those of us around her.”

The DAISY Award is an international recognition program created by the J. Patrick Barnes family in 1999 to honor the “super-human” work nurses do for patients and families every day. It honors the memory of their son, who succumbed to an auto-immune disease at age 33, and is a recognition of the care he received by nurses during his illness.

Representatives from the DAISY Foundation, traveled to Whidbey Island to recognize Manjikian’s work at WhidbeyHealth Medical Center. In addition to presenting her with the “Healer’s Touch” bronze sculpture carved especially for DAISY nurses by a tribe in Zimbabwe, the awards committee also brings DAISY recipients a DAISY pin and a box of Cinnabon cinnamon rolls to share with her colleagues, a treat that Patrick Barnes enjoyed sharing with the nurses who cared for him.

Nancy Manjikian, RN, received the DAISY Award recently for her work at WhidbeyHealth Medical Center.