Changing lives, one infusion at a time: Josey Wong earns DAISY Award

Josey Wong, RN, BSN, at the Clinical and Translational Science Center, earned a DAISY Award for the kindness, compassion, and excellent care she gave a patient and his family throughout the past decade. She continually went above and beyond, even earning additional certification, to support the patient’s care at home. The following nomination, submitted by the patient’s family, captures just how much Josey has meant to them:

“My family and I would like to nominate Josey Wong for the DAISY Award for so many reasons, some of which I will try to describe.

“We met Josey roughly about a decade ago, when our now 14-year-old son began his trial for Viltepso infusions for Duchane Muscular Dystrophy therapy at UC Davis, Clinical Research Center. From the beginning of the therapy, Josey quickly became one of our son’s favorites nurses for some of the following reasons:

“During such difficult times for a child and family, Josey was one of the most proficient nurses who would consistently infuse him with the least amount of pain. His anxiety level was always the lowest preceding infusions when Josey was performing the procedure.

“Josey’s compassion towards her patients was evident from day one; she exhibited genuine care and kindness, which made things much less stressful for our son during these weekly visits.

“Josey’s sympathy and care for her patients went beyond just interacting with our son, she was extremely kind and supportive with us parents as well, continually providing useful information about care and resources beneficial for all of us. We parents would look forward to seeing Josey every week.

“When the trial drug Viltepso became FDA approved, the weekly infusions were transferred away from UC Davis to our home, which for our son meant getting infused by other nurses. Without Josey there, his anxiety level quickly rose, and not all infusions went as proficiently as what we were used to with Josey. Once Josey learned about his anxiety with the new in-home care, she quickly pursued and obtained the necessary certifications to be able to take on in-home infusions for him, on top of her full-time job at US Davis Health. Once we had Josey back administering the weekly infusions, things were back to going smoothly without any hiccups.

“Josey’s willingness to sacrifice time out from her off hours to drive to and from our residence, which at times would take one hour each way, and to work around our schedule, demonstrated to us time and time again her selflessness and dedication to the comfort of her patients.

“She was there for every birthday, every milestone, and every challenge, always with a smile and an open heart.

“Josey’s unwavering dedication, heart of gold, her proficiency at her job, her selflessness, and her incredible compassion towards her patients and families, we hope qualifies her for a well-deserved DAISY Award. We can’t think of anyone more deserving of this honor than Josey, a truly amazing human being.”

Congratulations, Josey, on your DAISY Award! 

About the DAISY Award:
The DAISY Award is part of The DAISY Foundation, an international program dedicated to recognizing nursing excellence. Established by the Barnes family in memory of their son, Patrick, the award honors the exceptional, compassionate care Patrick received from nurses during his eight-week hospitalization. To express their gratitude, the family created the DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses, celebrating the remarkable and often unsung work nurses perform every day at the bedside.