Two Local Nurses Receive DAISY Award Honors

Antelope Valley Medical Center (AVMC) nurses Maria Bonamassa, RN, and Lyman Palalay, RN, have been honored with the DAISY Award, a nationally respected honor that recognizes extraordinary nursing care.

"Nurses work tirelessly every day and every shift to provide excellent care and ensure that our patients’ needs are met," said Linda Robinson, BSN, clinical director at AVMC. "We are always pleased to present these awards honoring the extraordinary efforts of nurses, such as Maria and Lyman. We are fortunate to have them on our team."

Bonamassa was nominated by several of her fellow nurses for being an inspiration and a pleasure to work with. According to her co-workers, "She is a great leader" who "brings a great attitude and smile to every shift," and is "the greatest role model a new nurse could have."

Palalay was nominated by Mary Reina, MSN, RN, director of the forensic services unit at AVMC. In her nomination Mary wrote, "Lyman always demonstrates compassion when dealing with patients. He recently did a fabulous job taking care of a very sick patient. He demonstrated compassion and collaboration, and he is inspiring all of us!"

DAISY is an acronym for Diseases Attacking the Immune System. The DAISY Award is a collaboration of the DAISY Foundation and the American Organization of Nurse Executives and was established in 1999 by the family of J. Patrick Barnes following his death due to complications of an auto-immune disease. It is not required that nurses have cared for someone with an immune system disease to be eligible for the DAISY award.

AVMC has been participating in the DAISY Award program since 2012. Local recipients are selected based on their clinical expertise and demonstration of extraordinary compassionate care. Nominations are submitted by patients, physicians and co-workers. The AV hospital DAISY team reviews all submissions and selects the nurse honoree.