Columbia Southern University’s College of Nursing and Health Sciences recently recognized a faculty member and a nursing graduate as the university’s inaugural recipients of the DAISY Award.

According to a news release from the college, the awards are part of The DAISY Foundation’s mission to recognize faculty members who inspire compassionate care in their students as well as students who demonstrate that compassion throughout their nursing education.

During the awards ceremony, CNHS Dean Bonny Kehm, Ph.D., shared that the two recipients had nominated each other for their respective awards.

CSU lead faculty member and experiential learning coordinator Mariah Holwick received the DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurse Educators in recognition of her dedication to academic excellence.

“Nursing has never felt like just a career choice, it has always felt like a calling,” Holwick said in the release. “Supporting people during their times of greatest need and helping them regain confidence and hope has been part of who I am for as long as I can remember.”

Matthew Shuffstall, a recent graduate of CSU’s RN-to-BSN program, received the DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nursing Students. Shuffstall has a background in EMS education and was excited to apply what he learned through his recent coursework to his own students.

“I’m already going back through and making new rubrics more defensible, things I learned through my Q/A, looking at all of the data in the project that Mariah helped me with,” Shuffstall said. “Not only did she really help me succeed in obtaining my BSN, but she helped the students that I teach now through her wisdom and guidance through me.”

The DAISY Foundation was established in memory of J. Patrick Barnes, who died at age 33 from complications of idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, a little-known but not uncommon autoimmune disease. The organization was created to commemorate the extraordinary care Barnes and his family received from nurses during his hospital stay.

"We honor faculty who inspire nurses to care like Patrick's nurses cared for him and for our family. Recognizing and celebrating nursing students for the above-and-beyond care and compassion they show to patients and their families will be a strong reminder that nursing is not all about tasks and technology,” said Bonnie Barnes, CEO and co-founder of The DAISY Foundation.

Nursing faculty and students may be nominated for the awards by colleagues, peers, patients, families or alumni. Recipients are selected by an awards committee and the awards will be presented annually.