Southeast Georgia Health System recently presented The DAISY Award^® For Extraordinary Nurses to Miki Blanton, RN, in recognition of the kindness and compassion she provides to her patients and their families.

A registered nurse with the Health System’s Brunswick Campus for two years, Blanton was nominated for The DAISY Award by one of her patient’s siblings.

Excerpts from Blanton’s nomination include, “My brother was taken into the hospital. He had been there for five days; they were not able to locate any family and Miki made it her mission to find someone who was family, so he didn’t have to be alone. It was not a phone call I was expecting nor one I ever wanted to receive. We just lost my nephew, his son in July. Miki knew everything she could possibly know about my brother. Not many nurses take or make the time to learn everything they can to other patients. Not only did she care about him as a patient, but she also cared enough to find a family member. Miki went above and beyond her duties. I wish there were more nurses like her! I can never thank her enough.”

During the presentation, Blanton received “A Healer’s Touch” sculpture, hand-carved by artists of the Shona Tribe in Zimbabwe, along with cinnamon rolls, balloons and a beautiful bouquet of daisies.

Created by The DAISY Foundation™—an acronym for Diseases Attacking the Immune System—The DAISY Award was established by family members in memory of J. Patrick Barnes. Barnes died at age 33 in late 1999 from complications of Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (ITP), a little known but not uncommon auto-immune disease. The care Barnes 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 the patients’ family and friends. Today, more than 5,000 health care facilities and nursing schools worldwide honor nurses with The DAISY award.

Nurses can be nominated for The DAISY Award online at sghs.org/daisy-award, or nominations may be placed in DAISY boxes located throughout the Health System’s Brunswick and Camden campuses. A committee consisting of Health System team members, including clinical and nonclinical staff, leadership, medical staff and board members, review the nominations and determine The DAISY Award recipient(s).