Emerald/HCD Conference + Expo

The Nursing Institute for Healthcare Design (NIHD) and The DAISY Foundation awarded its inaugural DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurse Leader in Healthcare Design to Nurse Abbie Ochsner, director of oncology infusion services at St. Elizabeth Healthcare (Edgewood, Ky.).

Ochsner received the award during a presentation at the 2024 Healthcare Design Conference in Indianapolis, Oct. 5-8.

The foundation’s annual DAISY Award is given to extraordinary nurses for the compassionate contributions they make every day going above and beyond expectations in science and sensitivity.

For 2024, NIHD worked with The DAISY Foundation to develop criteria for the first DAISY Award recognizing nursing professionals in healthcare design.

Abbie Ochsner Receives DAISY Award

In her nomination, Ochsner was lauded for her role in conducting a post occupancy evaluation (POE) of  a new infusion center that opened on St. Elizabeth’s campus in 2020. Ochsner collaborated with the research and design team and was a key person in coordinating data collection including staff and patient surveys and staff and medication shadowing.

Additionally, with her interest in research, she provided insights on the POE research and assisted the project team in interpreting the data. Ochsner also had an important role in knowledge sharing and presenting the findings from the POE research at the Healthcare Design Conference + Expo.

The DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurse Leader in Healthcare Design is open to individual nurses who are actively engaged in healthcare design. This includes nurses who consult, assist, advise, or work in creating better spaces for patients and families.

Criteria for the award include prioritizing a user-centered design philosophy, displaying strong leadership in leading healthcare design projects, and advocating for the integration of evidence-based design practices.

More coverage of the 2024 HCD Conference + Expo will be featured in Healthcare Design’s November/December issue. For more conference new and updates, go here.