(CBS 5) When we met registered nurse Cindy Ingels, she had no idea when she came to work on that day that she was being honored. Cindy is receiving a Daisy Award. Mark and Bonnie Barnes started the Daisy Foundation and the awards for nurses in 2001 to honor the memory of a loved one.
"Patrick was Mark's son," explains Bonnie. "He was 33 years old when he got sick and eight weeks later died of complications of a peculiar disease called ITP."
ITP is an auto-immune disease, so the Barnes family named their non-profit Daisy, for Diseases Attacking the Immune System. Initially, they thought they would raise money for medical research, but plans changed quickly.
"It took about five minutes to realize we would never raise that much money to solve ITP," says Mark. "Instead we support ITP groups and we also focus on the nurse awards because Pat received such compassionate care when he was a patient."
Nurses like Cindy, who are honored for their compassionate care and hard work, get a banner of recognition in their workplace, a Daisy pin, a certificate and a "Healing Touch" sculpture Mark and Bonnie import from Zimbabwe.
"We selected this design because it not only so beautifully reflects the special relationship nurses and patients have, but also because the Shona people feel about their traditional healers the way we feel about nurses," says Bonnie.
When a nurse gets a Daisy Award, he or she is not the only one who gets special goodies that day. Mark and Bonnie always bring along cinnamon rolls for all the other nurses on the ward and there's a real special reason they do that.
Mark says, "When Pat was sick and wasn't eating and I brought a Cinnabon in one day to enjoy and he asked for a bite and he ate the whole thing. That night he said, 'Please bring one in the morning and bring enough for all the nurses!'"
So Cindy and all her colleagues get to feel special.
"I think it's great," says Cindy. "I think it's very special that they take the time to do that and that they feel so passionate about it."
Mark and Bonnie's passion ignited an idea that has spread around the country.
"Today we have 120 hospitals that are in the program in, I think we counted up 31 states. And we have been able to say thank you or recognize a little over 1400 nurses across the country," says Mark.
For their commitment to honoring the nurses who care for us when we need it most, this week's Jefferson Award in the Bay Area goes to Bonnie and Mark Barnes of Sonoma County.
By Barbara Rodgers
Related Links
The Daisy Foundation
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