Folkers Honored with DAISY Award at Avera Sacred Heart Hospital

Avera Sacred Heart Hospital is pleased to announce that Cory Folkers, RN, is the most recent recipient of our quarterly nurse recognition program called the DAISY Award.

The DAISY Program honors and celebrates the skillful and compassionate care nurses provide every day. DAISY is an acronym for “Diseases Attacking the Immune System.” The DAISY Award has grown into a meaningful recognition program embraced by health care organizations around the world, including multiple Avera facilities.

Nurses at any Avera Sacred Heart facilities are eligible to receive the DAISY Award.

“Being among the other nurses recognized with the DAISY award is amazing. It's an honor to say the least,” said Folkers, who works in the Women’s Center at Avera Sacred Heart Hospital. “Being a nurse is part of my identity. It means being compassionate and helpful, and giving the same care across the board.”

Folkers was nominated by a patient with a difficult pregnancy who had been hospitalized many times before giving birth to a girl. 

“I ended up delivering my baby early due to pregnancy complications, and she was in special care nursery for a few extra days,” the patient wrote. “Cory is such a compassionate nurse. She explained everything that was going on with our baby and what all the monitors and alarms meant. This was all new to us, as we hadn’t had a premature baby before. She made sure to answer all our questions.

“Cory also asked about my mental and emotional health when I was visiting our baby girl after I was discharged,” she continued. “She took time out of her busy schedule to see how I was really doing. She could recognize that I was struggling mentally, and she took actions and made recommendations to help me out so I was prepared to bring home a newborn who had extra needs. I was so thankful for Cory to not only care for my baby girl physically but also me, as a mom, emotionally and mentally. She is a fantastic nurse who cares for the entire patient!”

The patient called Folkers “outstanding.”

Folkers, who has worked as a registered nurse at Avera Sacred Heart for 15 years – with 14 of them in the Women’s Center – said having a baby is a delicate time for the parents.

“Kindness is so important for these families,” she said. “Every pregnancy is different, and some are very hard. This patient’s experience was awful, but the silver lining is she did it. She made it. And this beautiful little girl got here safely all because of her.”

A committee of community members and Avera employees evaluates the DAISY Award nominations and selects a winner every quarter. 

The DAISY Foundation was established by family members in memory of J. Patrick Barnes. Patrick died at age 33 in 1999 from complications of the auto-immune disease Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (ITP). The care Patrick and his family received from nurses while he was ill inspired this unique means of thanking nurses for making a profound difference in the lives of their patients and patient families.

For more information, visit DaisyFoundation.org.

Anyone who has had a positive nursing care experience can nominate a deserving nurse for a DAISY award by filling out the online form at DAISYnomination.org/4381.