First nomination: I would like to recommend Ms. Elva John, RN (“Sister” or “Sis” as we know her) for the DAISY Award. Let me tell you a little about Ms. John. She is a Senior Nurse on 6 West with over 25 years of professional nursing experience. She works along side a multi-disciplinary team that provides care for a stroke, cardiac/telemetry, general medicine and patients with psychosocial issues. As a result, she is presented with significant and challenging medical and psychosocial issues tat add complexity to the provision of care, long-term goals, and plan for the patients. Now what makes Elva John so special is that despite how challenging and complex her day is, she always provides exceptional service with a smile.

I am one of the fortunate nurses at Maimonides Medical Center who continues to be groomed by Ms. John and I must say that over the two years I have known her, she has had a positive influence in my development as a nurse. She is a positive role model for the entire staff on 6 West. She is an extraordinary person who genuinely cares for her patients and their family members; that caring attitude is extended to the staff on 6 West. She is highly skilled and takes the time and goes above and beyond the call of duty to take care of her patients. She is extraordinarily courteous to everyone, excessively clean, and takes pride in the appearance and well-being of her patients. In addition, she would visit the rooms of patients that she has taken care of in the past, in order to follow-up on their progress, notwithstanding the fact that she is not assigned to that patient or to the respective district.

Ms. John is a team player; she always takes the time to consult with her colleagues and offers to assist the best way she can. Her years of nursing experience and superior clinical skills, makes her an excellent source of information and direction in regards to patient care. She often gives the staff constructive criticism, which is always welcome. She encourages the staff to further their education.

Ms. John is always the first to arrive at work and the last to leave. She approaches her role as a nurse with enthusiasm, diligence, and most of all, humility. In an era of nursing whereby technology has penetrated the profession and affords us less time at the bedside, Ms. John is always at the bedside, she is always there for her patients and their families; she makes her presence known. She is highly respected by the staff on 6 West and everyone who comes in contact with her; she exemplifies the best of the nursing profession. She is a model employee and is truly an asset to Maimonides Medical Center, and by extension, the nursing profession.




Second nomination: On an average day on 6 West, whenever Ms. John (the staff lovingly refers to her as “sis”) is at work, I receive at least one patient or family member calling me to the room or telling me how “wonderful” she is. She arrives at work on a typical day between 6:20 and 6:30 am with the zeal, enthusiasm and energy of a new graduate, but with the maturation that demonstrates the wealth of her knowledge and skills as a nurse. She never leaves the unit until all her documentation is complete. She is very responsible and dedicated to her profession.

Her tone of voice, her eye contact and her body language commands respect from colleagues while allowing the patient and anyone else she comes in contact with to feel special with every encounter.

She works tirelessly with her teammates to ensure the patient care is provided at the highest standard.

She frequently works in the Stroke area of the unit and the stroke team consistently verbalizes satisfaction with the care she provides to the patient based on her level of knowledge and her dedication to the patients and families every need to ensure patient satisfaction is achieved.

I recently had a float nurse who worked on the unit and she said to me please I want to be oriented to the telemetry area but only by this nurse. Elva is respectful to everyone she meets. She is always patient, caring and calm, often inquiring of one’s health and family with a genuine interest, and asks about family members of the patients and staff by name.

She provides extraordinary leadership through her actions and her style of communication never hesitating to say please and thank you to all members of the team.

She is not only passionate about how her patients feel and look, but works tirelessly to maintain a meticulous work environment. She constantly reminds us all of the importance of maintaining “the budget”.

Staff loves to work with her, she is energetic, enthusiastic and willing. The most challenging patients and family are soon charmed by her and become cooperative.

Sometime ago I received a call from the cardiac services department and the person insisted on speaking to me only. Well, of course, I was concerned and mentally prepared to receive a complaint, but this individual said she had recently been a patient on 6 West and wanted to know what I was doing to reward this wonderful nurse, Elva John. She said this nurse made her feel so special and well cared for that she needed to call me herself to let me know this.