Gundersen Boscobel honors nurse with DAISY Award

Friday, May 17, 2024

Gio Aguilar, RN, a nurse in the Gundersen Boscobel Area Hospital'sMedical-Surgical department, was recently selected as the organization's 2024 DAISY Awardrecipient - GBAHC's first male winner of this prestigious award.

The DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses is part of the DAISY Foundation's mission to recognize nurses around the world for the extraordinary, compassionate care they provide patients and families every day.  

Gio was nominated after helping an elderly patient and his family make the most of his recent hospital stay. The nominator - the patient's daughter - wrote, "As we watch our parents grow older, it's hard to watch their health decline. My father is not always the easiest patient to care for, but when I walked into his room at Gundersen Boscobel Hospital, he was happy because he was starting to feel better but also couldn't stop telling me stories of his nurse." Gio's positivity was a true influence in this situation, and he made a real difference for all involved.

The DAISY Foundation is a non-profit organization, established in memory of J. Patrick Barnes, by members of his family. Barnes died at the age of 33 in late 1999 from complications of Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (ITP), a little-known but common auto-immune disease. (DAISY is an acronym for Diseases Attacking the Immune System.) 

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 patients and their families. 

"Like all of our previous Daisy Award recipients, Gio exemplifies Gundersen Boscobel's commitment to ensuring all patients have an exceptional experience every time they walk through our doors," said Wendi Stitzer, nurse manager of acute care. "Though a very private individual, Gio is very deserving of this public recognition. I am so happy for him to receive this honor." 

At Gundersen Boscobel, the Daisy Award is presented annually during Nurses Weekat a celebration attended by the honoree's family and the nominatingpatient and their family. 

At the May 7 award ceremony, Gio was presented with a certificate commending his extraordinary impact, a special DAISY Award pin and "A Healer's Touch" sculpture, which is hand-carved by artists of the Shona Tribe in Zimbabwe. 

"The care he was given in the small town of Boscobel was better than my father would have gotten anywhere else," the daughter and nominator said. "Gio needed to be recognized, as our family will never forget the care and compassion he gave to my father. I felt something I have never felt before. I trusted the care my father was being given." 

For more information on the DAISY Award or to nominate a deserving GBAHC nurse, visit https://www.gundersenhealth.org/boscobel/patients-and-visitors/daisy-award/.