Franciscan Health honors exceptional nurse

Franciscan Health Olympia Fields recognized registered nurse Sherry LaMonto, as its latest DAISY Award recipient.

A Frankfort resident, LaMonto has worked in the hospital’s Emergency Department for nearly four years. She is the first emergency department nurse to be recognized with a DAISY Award since 2021. This national recognition is presented to registered nurses who make exceptional contributions to their hospital’s patients and team members.

LaMonto was nominated by a former patient who recently received care from her. That patient described LaMonto as knowledgeable, attentive and thorough.

“Sherry is a very caring nurse,” the patient wrote. “She took very good care of me by explaining every medication before giving it to me. She always asked me a lot of questions in case my medications or health changed. Even though Sherry has taken care of me several times over the years, she still wanted to know if I had any new medications or if my diagnosis changed. Sherry always made time to come back and check on me even when she was very busy to make sure my pain was under control.”

“Sherry is a wonderful nurse because she always listens and answers all my questions,” the patient added. “She is a beautiful person and a wonderful nurse.”

Franciscan Health salutes nurses like LaMonto who deliver extraordinary, compassionate and skillful care. As part of this recognition, she received a DAISY award pin, the Healer's Touch sculpture, a DAISY Award certificate, and a box of Cinnabon cinnamon rolls to share with coworkers. Funding for the DAISY Award is provided by the Franciscan Health Foundation.

About the DAISY Award

The DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses is an internationally recognized honor that was established in 1999 via the DAISY Foundation members of the family of Patrick Barnes. DAISY is an acronym for Diseases Attacking the Immune System. Patrick Barnes was a 33-year-old husband and father of an infant daughter who died eight weeks after being diagnosed with the autoimmune disease idiopathic thrombocytopenia. The award was established to honor what his family perceived to be extraordinary kindness and compassion by the nurses caring for him during his illness. Cinnabon’s are given to the winners because when Patrick was too ill to have an appetite, at one point he was able to eat a Cinnabon his father had brought, and Patrick requested that Cinnabon’s be brought in the next day for not just him, but for the nurses as a thank you for their care. More information about the DAISY award can be found at https://www.daisyfoundation.org.

Submitted by Robyn Ali, Marketing Specialist, Franciscan Health Olympia Fields, Marketing and Public Relations Department robyn.ali@franciscanalliance.org