Letterkenny University Hospital Nurses Honoured with International Daisy Award for Extraordinary Care
Three nurses at Letterkenny University Hospital in County Donegal have been honoured with the international Daisy Award — one of the most prestigious recognitions available to nursing professionals — in a ceremony on September 23 that celebrated extraordinary clinical skill and compassionate care, and that provided a moment of recognition for a profession that is under enormous pressure across the Irish health service.
Background
The Daisy Award is an international recognition programme for nurses that was established in the United States in 1999 by the family of J. Patrick Barnes, who died from complications of an autoimmune disease. During his hospitalisation, his family was profoundly moved by the care provided by his nurses, and they established the award to honour nurses who make an extraordinary difference in the lives of their patients and families. The award has since spread to hospitals in more than 25 countries, including Ireland, where it has been adopted by a growing number of hospitals as a way of recognising and celebrating nursing excellence.
Letterkenny University Hospital is the main acute hospital serving County Donegal and parts of the north-west of Ireland, including areas of Counties Sligo, Leitrim, and Fermanagh. It is part of the Saolta University Health Care Group, which manages hospitals across the west and north-west of Ireland. The hospital serves a large and geographically dispersed population, and its nursing staff work under conditions that are challenging even by the standards of the Irish health service — long distances, limited specialist resources, and a population with significant health needs.
The Daisy Award at Letterkenny University Hospital is administered by the hospital's nursing management team, with nominations accepted from patients, families, and colleagues. The selection process is rigorous, with nominees assessed against criteria that include clinical competence, compassionate care, and the ability to make a meaningful difference in the lives of patients and their families.
Key Developments
The three nurses honoured at the September 23 ceremony were selected from a pool of nominations that reflected the breadth of nursing practice at Letterkenny University Hospital, spanning acute medical wards, surgical units, and community liaison roles. The specific details of the cases that led to their nominations have not been made public, in keeping with patient confidentiality requirements, but the hospital's director of nursing described each of the honourees as exemplifying the very best of what nursing can be.
The ceremony was attended by hospital management, colleagues, and the families of the honoured nurses, and was described by those present as a moving and uplifting occasion. In a health service that is frequently in the news for the wrong reasons — waiting lists, financial overruns, staff shortages — the Daisy Award ceremony provided a reminder of the extraordinary dedication and skill that is present throughout the system, often unrecognised and unrewarded.
The HSE's national nursing and midwifery office has expressed support for the expansion of the Daisy Award programme to more hospitals across Ireland, noting that recognition of nursing excellence is an important tool for staff retention and morale in a profession that is experiencing significant recruitment and retention challenges.
Why It Matters
The Daisy Award matters because nursing matters. Nurses are the backbone of the Irish health service, providing the majority of direct patient care in hospitals, community settings, and people's homes. They are also among the most undervalued and overworked members of the health workforce, with pay disputes, staffing shortages, and excessive workloads creating conditions that are driving many experienced nurses out of the profession. The recognition provided by the Daisy Award is a small but meaningful counterweight to these pressures — a public acknowledgement that the work nurses do is seen, valued, and celebrated.
The timing of the award is also significant. The HSE is facing a projected year-end spending overrun of approximately €700 million, and the government is under pressure to control public spending ahead of Budget 2027. In this environment, there is a risk that the contribution of nursing staff — and the investment needed to recruit, retain, and support them — will be undervalued in the budget calculations. The Daisy Award ceremony is a reminder that behind the financial figures are real people doing extraordinary work, and that any approach to health service reform that does not adequately value and support nursing staff is unlikely to succeed.
Local Impact
Letterkenny University Hospital serves a population of approximately 160,000 people across County Donegal and parts of the north-west, making it one of the most important healthcare facilities in the region. The hospital's nursing staff are drawn from across Donegal and from further afield, with many nurses commuting significant distances to work at the hospital. The Daisy Award ceremony has been welcomed by nursing staff across the hospital as a recognition of the dedication that characterises the profession in Donegal, and has generated significant positive coverage in local media. The Donegal branch of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) has expressed pride in the honourees and has called for the recognition of nursing excellence to be accompanied by concrete improvements in pay, staffing levels, and working conditions.
What's Next
The Daisy Award programme at Letterkenny University Hospital will continue to accept nominations on an ongoing basis, with the next ceremony expected in early 2027. The HSE's national nursing and midwifery office is expected to publish a report on the expansion of the Daisy Award programme to additional hospitals in Ireland before the end of 2026. The INMO has indicated that it will use the positive attention generated by the Letterkenny ceremony to press for a broader conversation about the recognition and reward of nursing excellence across the Irish health service. The three honoured nurses are expected to represent Letterkenny University Hospital at a national Daisy Award ceremony in Dublin in November.
