DAISY Nurse Leader Award Winners - Hospital

Gordon Gartrell

Nurse Manager III, Pediatric Intensive Care Unit
DAISY Award Winner, November 2022

Every day, University of Mississippi Medical Center nurses in leadership roles make a difference in the lives of patients and families.

That group includes Gordon Gartrell, Pediatric ICU nurse manager and winner of the Medical Center’s 2022 DAISY Nurse Leader Award presented Nov. 2. The honor recognizes exemplary nurses as part of the national DAISY program.

“The 2022 DAISY Nurse Leader Award nominees lead with conviction,” said Ellen Hansen, chief nursing officer and clinical services officer for Children’s of Mississippi. “Nurses are highly educated and skilled members of the health care team and being a nurse leader requires strong values, clear vision, courage and stamina. Gordon Gartrell stands among these leaders as one best of the best. “

A recurring theme in Gartrell’s many nominations was “his passion for patient care and supporting his staff,” said Dr. Kristina Cherry, UMMC’s chief nursing executive.

“It was obvious early in his career that he would be a trailblazer and future leader when he won the Nurse Rookie of the Year Award,” Cherry said.

Alice Chaney Herndon

Director, Nursing Adult Services, Adult Nursing Administration
DAISY Award Winner, November 2021

In Alice Chaney’s time at UMMC she has had many great accomplishments…so becoming the 2021 DAISY Nurse Leader is no surprise! One of her many accomplishments started In 2015 when she was instrumental in organizing and implementing the requirements for Baby-Friendly USA which is an accrediting body and authority for the implementation of the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative. In 2017, UMMC achieved the Baby-Friendly designation.
In her short time as the Director of Adult Nursing Services, she has already made a significant impact in her areas throughout Wiser and adult hospitals. Congratulations, Alice Chaney!

Kaye Flanagin

Nurse Manager, Nursing Service Office and Nurse Resource Team
DAISY Award Winner, November 2020

On December 3, 2020, Kaye Flanagin became the second person at UMMC to receive the DAISY Nurse Leader Award. As manager of the adult nursing float pool, Kaye assigns 100-plus employees, 70 of them nurses, to various areas of the medical-surgical floors, the ICU Tower, ancillary and office staffing. She is responsible for making sure UMMC has enough resources with the appropriate experience to cover the units. Her employees run the gamut from full-time to as-needed.

Her tenacity in staffing, especially during a pandemic, is just one reason why Flanagin received the prestigious 2020 DAISY Nurse Leader Award, presented during a scaled-back, virtual version of the Medical Center’s annual DAISY Awards ceremony, 

LeAnn Harcharik

4 Wiser
DAISY Award Winner, November 2019

Medical Center nursing leaders describe LeAnn Harcharik as firm but fair, and as a veteran nurse who motivates her staff to have the good qualities she herself exemplifies.

Harcharik, nurse manager on 4 Wiser whose 19-year career has been spent at UMMC, on Nov. 1 became the first person to receive UMMC’s DAISY Nurse Leader Award, a highlight of the Medical Center’s celebration of its 10th year of awarding DAISY recognition to exemplary nurses and the national DAISY program’s 20th anniversary.

Until this year, only a handful of UMMC unit nurses or nursing teams each year received a DAISY, which stands for Diseases Attacking the Immune System. Going forward, one DAISY Nurse Leader Award will be presented annually so that nurses who make a difference in a leadership role can also be recognized, said Patrice Donald, magnet program manager in the Office of Nursing Quality and Development.