Lorene Martin, MSN, RN, CRNP, was named the College of Nursing 2018 DAISY Faculty Award recipient. She is a senior lecturer of nursing on the Kent State Salem Campus.
Krista Hawkins, MSN, RN, nursing lecturer at Kent State Salem, was one of two honorable mention awardees.
This is the fifth year the college has accepted nominations for the DAISY award and this year, more than 50 nominations were submitted.
The DAISY Faculty Award was established to provide colleges and schools of nursing a national recognition program that can be used to show appreciation to faculty for their commitment and inspirational influence on their nursing students. The award includes a Healer’s Touch sculpture, hand carved by artists of the Shona Tribe in Zimbabwe.
Students, faculty and staff members may nominate deserving faculty members for the award. Nominees are faculty members who made an impact on their students, future patients and the nursing profession. They consistently demonstrate excellence in the classroom, in their clinical expertise and by providing outstanding leadership to students and in the healthcare community.
The DAISY Foundation was formed in 1999 by the family of the late J. Patrick Barnes as a way to remember and honor the nurses who cared for him during the last few weeks of his life. He was diagnosed with Idiopathic Thrombocytopenia Purpura, an auto-immune disease. DAISY is an acronym for Diseases Attacking the Immune SYstem.
Martin received her undergraduate and graduate nursing degrees from Kent State and is a certified registered nurse practitioner. She has been a faculty member since 2004. Aside from teaching in the classroom, labs and clinical sites, Martin has helped expand students’ views of the world through international learning opportunities in Africa, China, Japan, Canada and other countries, as well as with several trips to the Lakota Reservation in South Dakota.
“Upon hearing I had been chosen for the DAISY award, I was rendered speechless, which, for those who know me well, is unusual,” Martin said. “Becoming a nurse was my lifelong dream. Now, being part of the future for so many of these young people has been a privilege and a blessing.
“The Salem Campus is small, with a family-like atmosphere that allows faculty to get to know each of our students very well,” she continued. “My joy is in spending time with my students and watching them grow into professional nurses.”
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Photo A: (from left) Dr. Mary Lou Ferranto, coordinator of the BSN Nursing Program at Kent State Salem; Krista Hawkins, nursing lecturer and honorable mention winner; Lorene Martin, 2018 DAISY Award winner; and Tracey Motter, associate dean of the College of Nursing
Photo B: Lorene Martin, 2018 DAISY Nursing Award winner