Congratulations to Alyssa Jarvis who has been chosen as the first Nursing student at Fox Valley Technical College to be honored with The DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nursing Students.

Launched this spring, The DAISY Award is given to a student who has been identified as an outstanding future role model in the nursing community.

Alyssa graduated in May with an associate degree in Nursing. She received seven nominations for this award from FVTC students and faculty. Here are a few highlights from her nominations: Alyssa is a classmate that every nursing student wishes to have. Alyssa has honestly dedicated herself to helping tutor students and providing support for any student in need. Alyssa goes out of her way to help other students review for future exams. If something is not understood, she comes up with other ways to present the information so it is more easily understood by her peers. Many students owe their success to her review sessions. I am honored to be able to learn from her and alongside Alyssa.

One nursing instructor wrote more about her bedside manner - While at clinical, Alyssa had a patient who had expressive aphasia and was struggling to communicate his needs with staff. Alyssa took the time to create an alternative method of communication. She made a pain scale that he could point to express his need for pain medication with this therapy. Without being asked to do so, Alyssa would think ahead to a patient who was nearing discharge and would talk to them about their medication to ensure they had understood before discharge. The staff at the clinical site were thankful she took the time on the days leading up to the patient's discharge to go over the information and gave that patient time to think of and ask questions about their plan of care. Alyssa shows compassion to her patients and ensures their needs are met or exceeded. I feel Alyssa exemplifies the attributes of the DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nursing Students and represents the FVTC nursing program in a positive light. Alyssa is going to be a great nurse because her heart is so big and her dedication to helping others is beyond belief. 

The DAISY Foundation is a not-for-profit organization, established in memory of J. Patrick Barnes, by members of his family. Patrick died at the age of 33 in late 1999 from complications of Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura, a little-known but not uncommon auto-immune disease. (DAISY is an acronym for Diseases Attacking the Immune System.) The care Patrick and his family received from nurses while he was ill inspired the creation of The DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses.