Northern Oklahoma College Nursing faculty members will be honored with The DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nursing Faculty at the NOC 2023 Nurses’ Pinning Ceremony Saturday, May 6, at Briggs Auditorium at NOC Enid.Finalists include Brian Baird, Dr. Marie Head, Jenifer Lancaster, and Marriya Wright. The award is part of The DAISY Foundation’s mission to express gratitude to nurses with programs that recognize them for the extraordinary, compassionate and skillful care they provide patients and families.DAISY Award recognitions honor the super-human work nurses do for patients and families every day wherever they practice, in whatever role they serve, and throughout their careers – from Nursing Student through Lifetime Achievement in Nursing.The DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nursing Faculty was established by The DAISY Foundation in memory of J. Patrick Barnes who died at age 33 from Immune thrombocytopenia (ITP), an autoimmune disease. The Barnes Family was awestruck by the clinical skills, caring and compassion of the nurses who cared for Patrick. They created this international award to demonstrate appreciation to faculty for their commitment and inspirational influence on their nursing students and to say thank you to nursing faculty everywhere.NOC Nursing Division Chair Dr. Nikole Hicks said, “NOC has been blessed with exceptional nursing faculty throughout its 50 years of nursing who are passionate about their students and ensure future nurses have a strong foundation for practice. It is an honor to partner with the DAISY Foundation to recognize nursing faculty who are changing lives and improving healthcare in our communities.”The following are the bios for the four finalists: Brian Baird received his B.S.N. from the University of Oklahoma in 1986 and his M.S. from Southern Nazarene University in 2008. The majority of his nursing career has been spent serving special needs children in their homes and serving within the ICU. His work in the ICU includes a nearly 14-year period at Hillcrest Hospital Cushing when it was named Cushing Regional Hospital and a stent at Mercy Hospital in OKC. In 2006, he began teaching freshman nursing students at Northern Oklahoma College.In 2002, while working at Cushing Regional Hospital, Brian received the President’s Spirit Award from the Hillcrest Health-Care System, a system-wide recognition given to only one employee a year. In 2012 and 2019, he received the NISOD Excellence in Teaching Award in recognition for his work at NOC. In 2020 and in 2021, he received the NOC Best Faculty Award. And ...
