It’s no secret that nurses at UW Health continuously go above and beyond for patients, families, their teammates and the organization every day. For these reasons and so much more, we believe in regularly recognizing and celebrating our nurses who provide exceptional care, compassion and commitment.

DAISY Award

Patients and families can express their appreciation for excellent nursing care by submitting a DAISY Award nomination. The UW Health Nursing Recognition Council reviews all nominations and selects one DAISY Award recipient each month. Nominees are also recognized.

Nursing Excellence Awards

Being recognized by your peers can often be one of the highest compliments. Each year, UW Health employees and providers are given the opportunity to nominate a UW Health nurse, clinical support employee or non-clinical support staff member for a Nursing Excellence Award. Twelve award recipients are honored during Nurses Week, which is often the highlight of that celebration. 2025 Nursing Excellence Award winners 2024 Nurse Excellence Award winners 2023 Nurse Excellence Award winners

Nursing Quality Awards

Another highlight during Nurses Week each year includes surprise visits from nursing leaders who present inpatient units with a Nursing Quality Award for achieving excellence in one of four categories: RN satisfaction, patient experience, nurse sensitive outcomes or quality metrics.

Sunshine Award for nursing assistants

The Sunshine Award is a recognition program unique to UW Health. It recognizes nursing assistants for demonstrating excellence in patient and family-centered care, by giving patients, families and visitors the opportunity to nominate a nursing assistant for providing extraordinary care.