December 2024 DAISY®, and BEE Award Recipients
Published on: February 24, 2025
Watertown, NY – Samaritan Medical Center is pleased to announce its DAISY, and BEE Award recipients for December 2024. The DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses® recognizes exemplary nursing staff, and the BEE Award honors other outstanding staff members for being excellent every day, both at the hospital and outpatient clinics.
Taylor Kucharski, a Registered Nurse (RN) at Samaritan Medical Center’s 4 Pavillion unit received the DAISY Award. Karen Netto, a unit clerk at the medical center’s Intensive Care Unit received the BEE Award.
The nomination for Kucharski came from the family of a grateful patient who spoke highly of the way in which the nurse cared for their loved one. They expressed how respectful, kind, and compassionate she was each time they interacted.
For receiving the DAISY Award – which is an international award backed by The DAISY Foundation – Kucharski was presented with a certificate commending her as an extraordinary nurse, a DAISY Award pin, and a symbolic sculpture called “A Healer’s Touch,” which is hand-carved by artists of the Shona Tribe in Zimbabwe. A larger version of this sculpture has also been installed in the Healing Gardens at Samaritan Medical Center in honor of all DAISY and BEE Award winners to come. It was purchased using funds donated by the Samaritan Auxiliary.
Netto was nominated for the BEE Award by Rodney Dobson, a unit clerk at Samaritan’s Progressive Care Unit, saying:
“Her knowledge, helpful nature, and collaborative spirit are invaluable assets to our team, and she truly deserves to be celebrated for her outstanding contributions. Throughout our time working together, Karen has consistently demonstrated an impressive depth of knowledge and a genuine passion for sharing that knowledge with others.”
Netto was presented with a certificate, a BEE Award pin, and a gift bag with other tokens of gratitude.
These awards will continue to be presented throughout the year, and nominations can be submitted by patients, families, or colleagues at any time. To make a nomination or to learn more about the Samaritan DAISY, and BEE Awards, visit www.samaritanhealth.com/daisy-bee.
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Pictured here, from left to right, are December 2024 awardees Taylor Kucharski, Registered Nurse, and Karen Netto, unit clerk.
About Samaritan Medical Center
Samaritan Medical Center (Watertown, New York) is a 290-bed not-for-profit community medical center, offering a full spectrum of inpatient and outpatient healthcare services. From primary and emergency care to highly specialized medical and surgical services, such as cancer treatment, neonatal intensive care, behavioral health and addiction services, and imaging services, Samaritan Medical Center and its team of healthcare professionals proudly serves the medical needs of our civilian and military community. Quality, compassion, and safety are the basic principles by which exceptional care is delivered at Samaritan.
About The DAISY Foundation
The DAISY Foundation is a not-for-profit organization, established in memory of J. Patrick Barnes, by members of his family. Patrick died at the age of 33 in late 1999 from complications of Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (ITP), a little known but not uncommon auto-immune disease. (DAISY is an acronym for Diseases Attacking the Immune System.) 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. In addition to the DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses, the Foundation expresses gratitude to the nursing profession internationally in over 3,900 healthcare facilities and schools of nursing with recognition of direct care Nurses, Nurse-led Teams, Nurse Leaders, Nursing Faculty, Nursing Students, through the J. Patrick Barnes Grants for Nursing Research and Evidence-Based Practice Projects and for nurses participating in medical missions. More information is available at http://www.DAISYfoundation.org.