Cynthia Sweeney
March 2021
Cynthia D
Sweeney
,
DNP, MSN, RN, CNOR, NEA-BC, FAAN
The DAISY Foundation
Anacortes
,
WA
United States
Dr. Sweeney has advocated as nursing’s voice for the largest international nursing recognition program, engaging over 4,700 healthcare organizations in 29 countries to promote the value of compassionate nursing care and the impact to healthcare.
Cindy Sweeney joined The DAISY Foundation in June of 2014, originally as the Executive Director for DAISY, and retired as our Vice President for Nursing in March 2021. Cindy was honored with the DAISY Lifetime Achievement Award upon her retirement. Several nomination stories were submitted on Cindy's behalf.
From Ellen (Boo) Lahmen MS, RN, NEA-BC, Former Director, Governance and Program Support, ANA/ANCC American Nurses Credentialing Center: I first met Cindy at ANCC in 2006 when she was staff and then Director of ANCC’s Credentialing Knowledge Center. CKC as it was known, was the education and conference planning arm of ANCC. I too was working at ANCC in the Magnet Recognition Program and served as a liaison from the Magnet Program to the conference planning staff. We soon found we shared the incredible experiences of careers in the Navy Nurse Corps, and ANCC afforded us the opportunity to continue to support nursing. I did not have the privilege of working with her in our respective Navy careers, but the Navy’s Core Values of Honor, Courage, and Commitment as well as dedication to the mission and teamwork were readily evident.
On a daily basis, she demonstrated her creativity, intelligence, and passion for nursing. A snapshot of her many accomplishments include:
Her division planned and executed over 80 products and services in support of ANCC’s individual certification and organizational credentialing programs that support healthcare excellence in the global market. The premier conference event was the ANCC National Magnet Conference.
Under her tutelage, the Magnet Conference had sustained growth from 3200 to over 7000 attendees in only five years and revenue from $4M to $7M. This conference has continued to grow to nearly 10,000 attendees and is unique in that the attendees range from “bedside to boardroom” and in all nursing specialties.
Under her guidance, her division successfully met all standards to attain ISO 9000 accreditation which resulted in ANCC being the only nursing credentialing organization to attain this distinctive milestone.
While at ANCC, Cindy created and implemented the idea of a National Certified Nurses Day. This event was entered into the Congressional Record on its inaugural recognition on March 19th, 2008. Now Certified Nurses Day is celebrated by nurses across the country.
As a further testament to Cindy’s service and dedication to nursing, she serves as a board member on our Washington Metro Area Navy Nurse Corps Association. As the board member in charge of “Leadership Succession”, we have had a sustained and stable board membership for the past 8 years. Strong work indeed given the challenges of maintaining association membership!
In her position at DAISY, she engaged both our local Navy Nurse Corps chapter and the national Navy Nurse Corps Association to discuss how both organizations could work together for the benefit of Navy Nursing and the DAISY mission. Multiple Navy healthcare facilities around the world now honor their nurses with The DAISY Award, giving patients and families the opportunity to share their stories of the outstanding care provided by their Navy Nurses.
For all of her accomplishments, there are many more that time precludes listing. She is most certainly deserving of the DAISY Lifetime Achievement Award. Cindy, as you enter yet another retirement phase of life, I know that you will never retire from your passion for nursing. I found a perfect quote for you…"After all, you cannot retire from being awesome!" I am ever so blessed to call you my friend!
From Karen Hill Karen S. Hill, DNP, RN, NEA-BC, FACHE, FAAN, Chief Operating Officer/Chief Nursing Officer Baptist Health Lexington and Editor-in-Chief The Journal of Nursing Administration: It is my great honor to nominate Dr. Cynthia Sweeney for a DAISY Lifetime Achievement Award. Cynthia D. Sweeney, DNP, RN, CNOR, NEA-BC is well-deserving of this honor and recognition. During her long and distinguished career, Dr. Sweeney has been a servant leader. Innovative advocacy and quality are hallmarks of her contributions to the nursing profession nationally and internationally.
Selected as the first Executive Director and first nurse of The DAISY Foundation, Dr. Sweeney has advocated as nursing’s voice for the largest international nursing recognition program, engaging over 4,700 healthcare organizations in 29 countries to promote the value of compassionate nursing care and the impact to healthcare.
Building on DAISY’s reach and influence, Dr. Sweeney created a research agenda to understand the impact of meaningful recognition as a strategic, evidence-based practice. She created the DAISY Impact Model, based on themes from existing literature to conceptually translate the impact of meaningful recognition across cultural and practice settings. The model’s three themes of evidence are Organizational, Nurse Engagement, and Patient/Family Experience. This model has been used in presentations and publications to communicate the synergistic impact of these themes.
Recognizing the global importance of the work environment and desire to advocate for best practices in nursing led Dr. Sweeney to create the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses. This award, developed with the support of IHI, recognizes positive outcomes, combining workforce safety and compassionate care delivery. Since its inception in 2015, four nurses and four nurse-led teams have been honored. This award elevates these best practices internationally, so others may learn from these exemplars.
Dr. Sweeney partnered with the industry to create the DAISY Breakfast at the Magnet conference as a venue to recognize DAISY Nurses and share best practices. Within four years this event grew from 100 to over 500 participants, who hear compelling presentations by DAISY Nurses, patients, and their families. Subsequently, nurses highlighted at this event have been profiled in publications including JONA and in ANA webinars, further sharing the knowledge and inspiration.
Additionally, advocating for professional development and the potential of DAISY Award Honorees, Dr. Sweeney created the DAISY Scholarship for Nursing Conferences and engaged a corporate sponsor for support. This scholarship for DAISY Nurses is in its fourth cycle with over $80,000.00 awarded for 40 nurses to attend a nursing conference of their choice. This assists these nurses in their professional development, offsetting organizational costs and enhancing the community of DAISY nurses.
While in her prior role as the Director of the Credentialing Knowledge Center at the American Nurses Credentialing Center, Dr. Sweeney created Certified Nurses Day, now in its 11th year, recognizing certified nurses and promoting the importance of nursing certification globally. In creating this day, Dr. Sweeney brought together nurse credentialing bodies as well as healthcare organizations to partner and celebrate certification while honoring Dr. Margretta Madden Styles as a pioneer in nurse credentialing on her birthday, March 19th.
While at ANCC, Dr. Sweeney led the organization’s first ISO 9000 accreditation, an internationally recognized standard of quality.
Dr. Sweeney has had a distinguished career as a nurse, ultimately achieving the rank of Captain in the U.S Navy Corps Reserve, where her service, both active duty and reserve, spanned over 30 years. While serving as a military nurse in Desert Shield/Desert Storm onboard the hospital ship, she was selected to command a medical unit while continuing to advocate for veterans.
Dr. Sweeney has received numerous medals and commendation from her military time. Dr. Sweeney has managed to raise four beautiful, successful children, be a great wife, and stay professionally engaged in organizations promoting nursing including Sigma Theta Tau, AONL, ANA, AORN, and her state nursing organization.
Dr. Sweeney epitomizes the criteria for a DAISY Lifetime Achievement Award. She has had a distinguished career in clinical practice, education, research, and administration. She has promoted a positive image for nurses in each of these roles including her most recent international research supporting nurse recognition. Dr. Sweeney has promoted the development of others with innovation including the creation of Certified Nurses Day, now a national day of recognition for nurses across the world. Dr. Sweeney has and continues to inspire others.
Through her work and legacy, she has impacted nursing satisfaction, nursing retention in the profession, and excellent patient outcomes. At this time in her career when she transitions from a job she has loved with The DAISY Foundation, she will continue to teach and inspire others through her volunteer efforts as a nurse including the support of COVID-19 vaccination administration. Congratulations Cindy!
From Ellen (Boo) Lahmen MS, RN, NEA-BC, Former Director, Governance and Program Support, ANA/ANCC American Nurses Credentialing Center: I first met Cindy at ANCC in 2006 when she was staff and then Director of ANCC’s Credentialing Knowledge Center. CKC as it was known, was the education and conference planning arm of ANCC. I too was working at ANCC in the Magnet Recognition Program and served as a liaison from the Magnet Program to the conference planning staff. We soon found we shared the incredible experiences of careers in the Navy Nurse Corps, and ANCC afforded us the opportunity to continue to support nursing. I did not have the privilege of working with her in our respective Navy careers, but the Navy’s Core Values of Honor, Courage, and Commitment as well as dedication to the mission and teamwork were readily evident.
On a daily basis, she demonstrated her creativity, intelligence, and passion for nursing. A snapshot of her many accomplishments include:
Her division planned and executed over 80 products and services in support of ANCC’s individual certification and organizational credentialing programs that support healthcare excellence in the global market. The premier conference event was the ANCC National Magnet Conference.
Under her tutelage, the Magnet Conference had sustained growth from 3200 to over 7000 attendees in only five years and revenue from $4M to $7M. This conference has continued to grow to nearly 10,000 attendees and is unique in that the attendees range from “bedside to boardroom” and in all nursing specialties.
Under her guidance, her division successfully met all standards to attain ISO 9000 accreditation which resulted in ANCC being the only nursing credentialing organization to attain this distinctive milestone.
While at ANCC, Cindy created and implemented the idea of a National Certified Nurses Day. This event was entered into the Congressional Record on its inaugural recognition on March 19th, 2008. Now Certified Nurses Day is celebrated by nurses across the country.
As a further testament to Cindy’s service and dedication to nursing, she serves as a board member on our Washington Metro Area Navy Nurse Corps Association. As the board member in charge of “Leadership Succession”, we have had a sustained and stable board membership for the past 8 years. Strong work indeed given the challenges of maintaining association membership!
In her position at DAISY, she engaged both our local Navy Nurse Corps chapter and the national Navy Nurse Corps Association to discuss how both organizations could work together for the benefit of Navy Nursing and the DAISY mission. Multiple Navy healthcare facilities around the world now honor their nurses with The DAISY Award, giving patients and families the opportunity to share their stories of the outstanding care provided by their Navy Nurses.
For all of her accomplishments, there are many more that time precludes listing. She is most certainly deserving of the DAISY Lifetime Achievement Award. Cindy, as you enter yet another retirement phase of life, I know that you will never retire from your passion for nursing. I found a perfect quote for you…"After all, you cannot retire from being awesome!" I am ever so blessed to call you my friend!
From Karen Hill Karen S. Hill, DNP, RN, NEA-BC, FACHE, FAAN, Chief Operating Officer/Chief Nursing Officer Baptist Health Lexington and Editor-in-Chief The Journal of Nursing Administration: It is my great honor to nominate Dr. Cynthia Sweeney for a DAISY Lifetime Achievement Award. Cynthia D. Sweeney, DNP, RN, CNOR, NEA-BC is well-deserving of this honor and recognition. During her long and distinguished career, Dr. Sweeney has been a servant leader. Innovative advocacy and quality are hallmarks of her contributions to the nursing profession nationally and internationally.
Selected as the first Executive Director and first nurse of The DAISY Foundation, Dr. Sweeney has advocated as nursing’s voice for the largest international nursing recognition program, engaging over 4,700 healthcare organizations in 29 countries to promote the value of compassionate nursing care and the impact to healthcare.
Building on DAISY’s reach and influence, Dr. Sweeney created a research agenda to understand the impact of meaningful recognition as a strategic, evidence-based practice. She created the DAISY Impact Model, based on themes from existing literature to conceptually translate the impact of meaningful recognition across cultural and practice settings. The model’s three themes of evidence are Organizational, Nurse Engagement, and Patient/Family Experience. This model has been used in presentations and publications to communicate the synergistic impact of these themes.
Recognizing the global importance of the work environment and desire to advocate for best practices in nursing led Dr. Sweeney to create the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses. This award, developed with the support of IHI, recognizes positive outcomes, combining workforce safety and compassionate care delivery. Since its inception in 2015, four nurses and four nurse-led teams have been honored. This award elevates these best practices internationally, so others may learn from these exemplars.
Dr. Sweeney partnered with the industry to create the DAISY Breakfast at the Magnet conference as a venue to recognize DAISY Nurses and share best practices. Within four years this event grew from 100 to over 500 participants, who hear compelling presentations by DAISY Nurses, patients, and their families. Subsequently, nurses highlighted at this event have been profiled in publications including JONA and in ANA webinars, further sharing the knowledge and inspiration.
Additionally, advocating for professional development and the potential of DAISY Award Honorees, Dr. Sweeney created the DAISY Scholarship for Nursing Conferences and engaged a corporate sponsor for support. This scholarship for DAISY Nurses is in its fourth cycle with over $80,000.00 awarded for 40 nurses to attend a nursing conference of their choice. This assists these nurses in their professional development, offsetting organizational costs and enhancing the community of DAISY nurses.
While in her prior role as the Director of the Credentialing Knowledge Center at the American Nurses Credentialing Center, Dr. Sweeney created Certified Nurses Day, now in its 11th year, recognizing certified nurses and promoting the importance of nursing certification globally. In creating this day, Dr. Sweeney brought together nurse credentialing bodies as well as healthcare organizations to partner and celebrate certification while honoring Dr. Margretta Madden Styles as a pioneer in nurse credentialing on her birthday, March 19th.
While at ANCC, Dr. Sweeney led the organization’s first ISO 9000 accreditation, an internationally recognized standard of quality.
Dr. Sweeney has had a distinguished career as a nurse, ultimately achieving the rank of Captain in the U.S Navy Corps Reserve, where her service, both active duty and reserve, spanned over 30 years. While serving as a military nurse in Desert Shield/Desert Storm onboard the hospital ship, she was selected to command a medical unit while continuing to advocate for veterans.
Dr. Sweeney has received numerous medals and commendation from her military time. Dr. Sweeney has managed to raise four beautiful, successful children, be a great wife, and stay professionally engaged in organizations promoting nursing including Sigma Theta Tau, AONL, ANA, AORN, and her state nursing organization.
Dr. Sweeney epitomizes the criteria for a DAISY Lifetime Achievement Award. She has had a distinguished career in clinical practice, education, research, and administration. She has promoted a positive image for nurses in each of these roles including her most recent international research supporting nurse recognition. Dr. Sweeney has promoted the development of others with innovation including the creation of Certified Nurses Day, now a national day of recognition for nurses across the world. Dr. Sweeney has and continues to inspire others.
Through her work and legacy, she has impacted nursing satisfaction, nursing retention in the profession, and excellent patient outcomes. At this time in her career when she transitions from a job she has loved with The DAISY Foundation, she will continue to teach and inspire others through her volunteer efforts as a nurse including the support of COVID-19 vaccination administration. Congratulations Cindy!