Now Scheduling Primary Care Appointments Online. Book Now.

DAISY Award honors Oaklawn’s Amanda Hoyt for top nursing service

Amanda Hoyt of Homer, a registered nurse at Oaklawn Hospital, received a quarterly DAISY Award during a recent presentation honoring her exemplary service to patients at Oaklawn Hospice.

The DAISY Award is a nationwide program that celebrates and rewards extraordinary clinical skill and care given by nurses each day, and is awarded regularly by Oaklawn Hospital.

“I was very honored,” Hoyt said after receiving the recognition. “I love what I do. I don’t do it with the intention of getting a reward. But I’m very flattered.”

Several relatives of a recent patient at Oaklawn Hospice nominated Hoyt for the honor, praising Hoyt for her efforts during a time that “was extremely difficult and confusing for my whole family.”

The nomination credited Hoyt with helping the family “every step of the way” and said she was “always willing to help and talk us through things” during the passing of the writer’s grandfather.

“Amanda went above and beyond with my grandfather, sharing a great sense of humor and keeping him notified on his current state whenever she was there,” one of the relatives wrote.

“There are not enough words in this world to express how grateful my family is for Amanda. She has one of the toughest jobs and handles it with grace.”

Hoyt, 32, a native of Brooklyn, Mich., came to the Calhoun County area in 1997. After becoming a nurse in 2005, she began work with Oaklawn Hospital in 2005, primarily in inpatient care.

Over the years, Hoyt found working with hospice and home-care patients particularly rewarding. She shifted her focus last summer to the services of Oaklawn Hospice.

“This has been the best decision I’ve made professionally,” Hoyt said.

“I’ve always enjoyed my time with hospice patients,” she said.  “The experience really helps you evaluate how you are as a person – emotionally, spiritually and physically.”

Hoyt and her husband David have three children, all under age 7. She said that she enjoys reading, movies, spending time with her family and being a “coffee connoisseur.”

As a DAISY Award Hospital Partner, Oaklawn Hospital recognizes one of its nurses with the special honor every quarter. Recipients are given public recognition in his or her unit, along with a certificate, an award pin and a hand-carved stone sculpture entitled “A Healer’s Touch.”

DAISY is an acronym for “diseases attacking the immune system.” The DAISY Foundation was established in 2000 by the family of J. Patrick Barnes, who died of complications of the autoimmune disease Idiopathic Thrombocytopenia Purpura at age 33.

Patients, visitors, nurses, physicians and employees are encouraged to nominate a deserving employee. A DAISY Award nomination form may be obtained from the hospital, or online by visiting the “News and Events” area at the hospital’s website, www.oaklawnhospital.org.

Related Services