Extraordinary Patient Safety Nurses Honored!

A hospital nurse from South Carolina and a team of ICU nurses from Boston were honored as “Extraordinary Nurses in Patient Safety” at a national conference last week.

The DAISY Awards were presented to the winners at the 2025 Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) Patient Safety Congress, which was held from Mar. 9 to 11 in San Diego. The event took place during Patient Safety Awareness Week (PSAW), which ran Mar. 9 to 15.

IHI, the American Hospital Association and other organizations use PSAW each year to raise awareness of patient safety issues and celebrate gains made in the previous year.

“This year’s honorees are particularly noteworthy for the actions they took that resulted in systemwide, and even nationwide, safety improvements,” says Patricia McGaffigan, RN, CPPS, IHI’s senior advisor for safety. “These nurses are saving lives, shaping systems of safer care and truly embody the spirit of The DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses in Patient Safety.”

The DAISYs celebrate nurses and clinical teams for their commitment to patient and workforce safety in the delivery of compassionate care for patients and families. More than 6,900 healthcare facilities and nursing schools across the U.S. and in 43 countries and territories participate in the annual award program. All nurses and nurse-led teams from these DAISY partner organizations were eligible for the 2025 awards.

The DAISY Foundation was established in 1999 in memory of J. Patrick Barnes, who died after an eight-week hospitalization. Mr. Barnes was grateful for the incredible care nurses gave him during his illness. The foundation honors the excellent work nurses do around the world.

“This award aligns beautifully with The DAISY Foundation’s focus on compassionate care,” says Bonnie Barnes, FAAN, the foundation’s co-founder. “There is nothing more compassionate than keeping patients safe from harm.”

This year’s individual honoree is Ashley Smith, BSN, RN, MEDSURG-BC, from Prisma Health Oconee Memorial Hospital in Seneca, S.C. Ms. Smith streamlined the facility’s electronic health record system and led medication safety efforts. She also addressed a lack of integration between chair alarms and status boards, which resulted in a 20% decline in fall rates on her unit.

The team award went to the adult critical care nurses in the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Intensive Care Unit in Boston. The team noticed that medication pumps were sounding multiple false occlusion alarms that interrupted the delivery of crucial medication. They worked with the manufacturer and learned that a software upgrade caused the problem. Realizing that patients across the country were at risk, a nationwide recall of the pumps began. The FDA recognized the team’s achievements as well.

Nominate a colleague or clinical team for an Extraordinary Nurses in Patient Safety Award here. OSM