January 2024: Introducing The DAISY Award® for Extraordinary Nurse Educators
The DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nursing Faculty is evolving to include all Nurse Educators
The DAISY Award for Nursing Faculty was first introduced in 2010, inspired by a Dean of Nursing who reminded DAISY's founders, the Barnes family, that Patrick's nurses were educated and inspired by excellent nursing faculty. This realization prompted the family to create a program honoring nursing faculty to recognize and celebrate the contributions faculty make to the future of nursing. Since then, more than 500 nursing schools have adopted The DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nursing Faculty to celebrate nursing educators who inspire their students.
Exceptionally skilled and compassionate nursing educators play a pivotal role in shaping the nursing workforce and setting an example for future nurses. Society relies on these educators to impart the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary for nurses to provide compassionate and complex care. Recognizing their impact not only boosts faculty morale but also contributes to a healthy work and learning environment.
The landscape of nursing practice and education has evolved significantly since the introduction of the faculty award in 2010. Nurses now practice across a broader, more complex, and ever-changing continuum. As a result, education begins in nursing schools and extends into various practice settings.
Nursing schools are where faculty and instructors launch the careers of undergraduates and advance the skills of graduate students. In healthcare organizations, clinical educators, nursing professional development (NPD) practitioners, mentors and preceptors ensure that students, new graduates, and nurses transitioning into specialty practice are competent and confident in their skills. These educators also keep clinicians updated on evidence-based practice.
All these roles play a crucial part in ensuring that the public receives care from educated, competent, and proficient nurses. Nevertheless, the ongoing challenge of a global nursing shortage, further intensified by the emergence of diseases, has placed substantial pressure on nursing education and exacerbated the shortage of faculty and educators. Leaders in academia and practice have consistently reported significant shortage in clinical preceptors and a notable absence of recognition for their exceptional contributions in recent years.
As always, The DAISY Foundation remains committed to providing meaningful recognition to the nursing profession, regardless of where nurses serve or their career stage. Therefore, with gratitude for the continuum of educators in academic and practice settings, we are pleased to announce the evolution of The DAISY Award for Nursing Faculty to The DAISY Award® for Extraordinary Nurse Educators. This all-encompassing recognition honors every nurse educator, regardless of their teaching functional role and location.
Undergraduate and graduate students, preceptees, residents, clinicians, and professionals across the spectrum of nursing education, from practical/vocational through advanced practice nurses, are encouraged to nominate educators, NPD practitioners, mentors, and preceptors who have committed themselves to improving practice and advancing patient care. Colleagues of educators and students alike are invited to share compelling stories that highlight teaching, mentoring, compassion, and care.
The expansion of DAISY's recognition to all those who educate nurses is supported by esteemed organizations such as the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), the Association for Nursing Professional Development (ANPD), the National League for Nursing (NLN), the Organization for Associate Degree Nursing (OADN), and Sigma. We collectively believe that raising the visibility of all nurse educators and highlighting their excellence will aid in their recruitment, retention, and engagement in the education specialties.