March 28, 2024

MercyOne Newton Medical Center DAISY nursing award winner

Jen Maki, registered nurse at MercyOne Newton Medical Center, was recently recognized for her humor, compassion and willingness to learn during the organization’s annual DAISY Award ceremony.

The DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses was presented to Maki following an anonymous nomination. The nomination letter praised Maki’s astonishing level of cross-training throughout all nursing areas in the hospital. The letter noted: “You might see her checking patients in ED as the secretary, caring for them on Med-Surg, preparing patients for surgical procedures in Outpatient Surgery or helping them recover afterward, giving Ketamine treatments to those with chronic depression, giving infusions to those with COVID, administering COVID tests for pre-op patients, rooming patients in the orthopedic surgery clinic, administering chemotherapy, or inserting a PICC line.” The letter went on to refer to Maki as “a true example of what it means to be a MercyOne nurse.”

“I’m just honestly in shock,” Maki said upon receiving the award. “Every DAISY ceremony that I’ve been to, I’ve seen so many great nurses who are so deserving. Thank you to whoever nominated me. Thank you to all of the great people I get to work with every day.”

Maki was one of 11 nurses at MercyOne Newton Medical Center to be nominated for the year’s DAISY award. The other nurses recognized during the ceremony were Taylor Brown, Kari Burgos-Lovelace, Stacie Henwood, Christine Hinshaw, Abby Osborne, Rich Pentico, Stacey Simbro, Ginnie Slings, Donna Spidle and Nicole Woods.

The DAISY Award, presented in collaboration with The American Organization of Nurse Executives (AONE), is part of the DAISY Foundation’s program to recognize the super-human efforts nurses perform every day.

Nomination forms are available throughout MercyOne Newton Medical Center, located at 204 N. Fourth Ave. E., Newton. They can also be submitted online at MercyOne.org/daisy. The nominations are reviewed and award winners are selected annually by professional nursing representatives from various departments through the organization.