Oncology nurse Christine Mac Entee, RN, has been named Mather Hospital’s first Daisy Award winner.

The DAISY Award was established by the family of J. Patrick Barnes who died of complications of an auto-immune disease at age 33. During Pat’s hospitalization, his family was awestruck by the care and compassion his nurses provided to him and everyone in his family. The DAISY Foundation was created in his memory and recognizes nurses who make an enormous difference by the super-human work they do.

Mac Entee was nominated by a patient on Mather’s 2 South who wrote in her nomination of Mac Entee: “Her gentle demeanor and welcoming words made me feel confident that I was in good hands. It was evident she was knowledgeable, kind and dedicated to her work.”

The patient also said that "Various issues came up and [Christine] handled them with a complete confidence…There were so many fine qualities displayed (by) this lovely lady as the days went by. I was truly blessed to have had the pleasure of knowing [Christine] and being in her care during my stay."

Mac Entee had no idea that she had even been nominated for the national award by a patient until the announcement was made.

"It’s a little embarrassing," she said. "I’m not a person who loves to be in the spotlight. People from all departments are congratulating me. Doctors are congratulating me. It’s really touching that all these other people have noticed as well."

Mac Entee said she didn’t treat the patient who nominated her any differently than she would any of her patients. "She was a very appreciative lady, very positive, upbeat," she said. "But if it was any of my patients I would have done the same things I did for her. I think she just appreciated it more."

Mac Entee, who began her career as a lab technician, has been a nurse for eight years, all of them working on 2S. She recently graduated from Stony Brook University’s nursing program and received her Bachelor of Arts degree.