Katie DeMitry, BSN, RN, receives the DAISY Nurse Leader Award

Finger Lakes Health recognizes Katie DeMitry, BSN, RN with the DAISY Nurse Leader Award. She is the Nurse Manager for the 2 West and 3 North, at Geneva General Hospital.

The DAISY Nurse Leader Award was created to shine a light on the managers and others who do not typically have direct patient care as part of their work. Nurse Leaders are an integral part of the healthcare team. They inspire and influence their team members and play a major role in the collaboration of care across the organization. Their roles are vast including the central communicator, a mentor, an educator, and an organizer just to name a few.

The Nurse Leaders’ responsibilities are:

• Providing a haven of safety for staff, both physically and emotionally
• Ensuring standards are maintained for quality patient care are maintained
• Ensuring nurses have access to the technology and equipment they need – and the information
• Managing human and financial resources across staffing, supplies, and more
• Driving team development, resiliency, and competency, and meaningfully recognizing team members for the work they do for patients and families
• Providing a setting where compassion is valued, and staff, in turn, treat patients and their families with deep humanity.

Leaders are responsible for creating an environment where compassionate care by clinicians can thrive. The people who nominate them for The DAISY Nurse Leader Award are typically their staff who describe the impact leaders have on their ability to provide quality, compassionate care.

Nurse Leaders’ are recognized for:

• Creating an environment where attributes of trust, compassion, mutual respect, continued professional development, and ethical behavior are modeled and supported
• Being accessible, available, and responsive to the needs of their team
• Problem-solving and encouraging critical thinking
• Advocating for their teams
• Communicating the needs of their teams to organization leadership and communicating organizational priorities and directions to their teams
• Being compassionate leaders

DeMitry received the first Nurse Leader Daisy Award for 2022 based on nominations from her team.

Quotes from her nomination include:

• “Katie always maintains a positive attitude; we never see Katie crack! Katie is always thinking of innovative ways to put our resources and staff and ideas to better use, as well as providing an emotional support system and mentorship for anyone who needs it. Katie has been the best boss/leader that I have had in any job and deserves the DAISY Award for non-clinical hands-on staff such as managers or directors!”
• “Katie is our nurse manager of 3 North, where she is in charge of nurses and nurse’s aides. Katie always tries her hardest to meet the staffing needs as well as our personal needs. Checking in to make sure the staff is doing ok and if we need anything. Very supportive if you are continuing with your education to back you up. Katie is a true leader.”
• “Katie is awesome. If I have any concerns, she is always here to help.”