Registered nurse Rachel Way is the recipient of the DAISY Award for Nursing Excellence at Memorial Medical Center.

Two patients nominated Way to receive the award.  In the nomination form, one patient wrote that "Rachel took her time and was patient with me. She let me cry and be angry. She walked with me through everything and helped me turn my life around."

A second patient was impressed with Way’s “rare and perfect mix of professionalism and humor,” writing that “Rachel treated me as a patient, but she talked to me as a person, which made all the difference in putting me at ease in several uneasy situations."

Way graduated from Lincoln Land Community College and has served as a nurse at Memorial Medical Center for three years. She is highly respected on her unit for her humility and kindness, said Marsha Prater, chief nursing officer for Memorial Medical Center. Way currently serves as the 5B CLABSI champion, a role that ensures best practices are in place and used in central line care.

Way was recognized in front of her coworkers and leaders. She received a certificate and a hand-carved sculpture called “A Healer’s Touch.”

The nonprofit DAISY Foundation was established by the family of J. Patrick Barnes, who died in 1999 from complications of idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, an auto-immune disease. The care Barnes and his family received from nurses during his illness inspired the DAISY Award to thank nurses for making a profound difference in the lives of their patients and families.

Any nurse at Memorial Medical Center may be nominated for the award. Nomination forms are available throughout the hospital or online at DaisyFoundation.org. Nurses are selected by the Memorial Medical Center Nursing Shared Governance Council to receive the DAISY Award.