The Sidra Medical and Research Centre (Sidra) recently hosted the third Daisy Awards recently to thank and recognise its nurses for their hard work, compassion and skill.
The awards, launched by Sidra last year, were hosted by the Sidra Nursing team under chief nursing officer Prof Mary Boyd and the founders of the Daisy Foundation, Bonnie and Mark Barnes, who were visiting Qatar for the first time.
Prof Boyd said that the nurses are a testament to the quality and calibre of an experienced nursing team that Sidra is proud to have established.
“What is unique about the recognition bestowed to Sidra nurses is that they have been acknowledged for their contribution in helping set up a greenfield facility and the role they play in the wider healthcare community.”
Eight Sidra nurses were nominated by their colleagues. The winner, Laura Corbett, was selected by a panel consisting of the Rewards and Recognition Council, a part of the newly formed Nursing Shared Governance at Sidra.
Laura, the clinical nurse leader for the Birthing Centre at Sidra, was awarded on the basis of her role in developing relationships within the Doha community, both in her capacity as nurse at Sidra and her role as a clinical instructor in the Nursing Programme at the University of Calgary Qatar.
Laura was recognised for her close association with community based focus groups, campaigns related to birth plans, breastfeeding initiatives and her approach towards inspiring the next generation of nursing students from Qatar.
Bonnie Barnes, co-founder and president of the Daisy Foundation, said their work is to celebrate and honour the extremely important role that nurses play in taking care of patients and their families.
“We are proud beyond words to be here in Qatar to celebrate the contribution that the nurses at Sidra have made. We know what a difference nurses can make and we experienced this when our son was ill. And when he passed away, we knew we had to find a way to spread the word about how important nurses are to great healthcare. It is inspiring that there are now over 1,900 health organisations worldwide who honour nurses with Daisy Awards.”
The Daisy Award was established by the Daisy Foundation, set up in the US by the family of J Patrick Barnes, who died in 1999 from an auto-immune disease. Daisy is an acronym for Diseases Attacking the Immune System.
Laura Corbett poses with Mark and Bonnie Barnes after receiving the award.
