Holy Family Memorial announces 24th DAISY Award winner.

Holy Family Memorial named registered nurse Brenda Kocourek as the recipient of The DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses. The DAISY Award recognizes nurses who go above and beyond in providing excellent care to their patients every day.

The award was presented to Kocourek, a core specialist in the Surgery Center at HFM Medical Center, during a recent ceremony. She received a certificate and pin along with a sculpture called "A Healer’s Touch," hand-carved by artists of the Shona Tribe in Africa.

Her nominator wrote, “In June, my son was scheduled for surgery with Dr. Smith. The morning of surgery, as a family, we were all quite scared and overwhelmed with the simple idea of our child having big surgery. From the second we walked into HFM, our fears and anxiety improved.”

“Our nurse in preop was Brenda. She was aware that not only am I a nurse but also a nurse at HFM and she did not treat me as either. Brenda treated me like any other patient or family member, for this I am grateful, because that morning I wasn’t a nurse—I was a mom, and a very scared mom at that. Brenda was amazing at explaining the plan for preop, surgery and recovery. Her explanation was simple and very easy to understand. She was also great with my son, she joked and laughed and gave him time to warm up to being there making the assessment and vital signs easier. I can honestly say she eased our fears and anxiety making a scary day one that we look back on as a pleasant one.”

Kocourek is the 24th registered nurse at HFM to receive the DAISY Award. She started working at HFM in 1987 as a certified nursing assistant on the surgical floor and home care. In 1991, Kocourek completed her nursing degree and worked on the surgical unit at HFM. She worked in the Surgery Center at HFM since 1995, and most recently celebrated her 31st work anniversary in July.

Patients, family members of patients, or colleagues can nominate nurses for The DAISY Award. If you or someone close to you received care from an extraordinary HFM nurse, complete a nomination at hfmhealth.org/daisy.