Meet Karen Doukas, RN, who is this year's DAISY award recipient.
With Karen’s 17 years of SCI experience, she is looked to as a role model and a mentor. Her dedication to nursing and helping those around her goes beyond the doors of Gaylord and into those in the community around her.Karen is expert in the care of spinal cord injury patients.
DAISY is an acronym for Diseases Attacking the Immune System. The award was created by the DAISY Foundation in memory of J. Patrick Barnes, who died of an auto-immune disease in 1999. The Barnes family created the international award and foundation to recognize and honor nurses who demonstrate clinical skills, caring and compassion such as those who cared for Patrick.
The Gaylord Specialty Healthcare DAISY Award committee presents the award to a nurse who has established a special connection with a patient or a family, has made a difference in the life of a patient, shows empathy, is an outstanding role model for the nursing profession, consistently exhibits excellent interpersonal skills, and exemplifies the essence of professional nursing in all activities.
Karen recognizes the need to not only care for her patient's physical condition, but also to help them conquer the emotional challenges that come along with such a life altering injury. Karen’s dedication and commitment to her patients helps them learn how to regain independence as they re-enter the community.
We look to her as a role model and a mentor. For all these reasons and many more, Karen is truly deserving of the DAISY Award for nursing excellence.