Memorial Announces Elesia Vizina September 2025 DAISY Award Winner

Congratulations to Elesia Vizina, BSN, RN, RNC-OB, IBCLC at Lake Charles Memorial's Family Birth Center. She was nominated by her co-worker, turn patient, who nominated her not only for her nursing mentorship but for the excellent and kind care she offered when she was a patient. 

From the nominator:

I would like to nominate Elesia Vizina for the DAISY Award. I have known Elesia for the last 11 years. As a new grad, I worked alongside her and was able to witness the knowledge, patience, and compassion she poured out to not only me but also her patients. I remember thinking, “When I finally have a baby, I want Elesia to be my nurse.” Fast forward years later, and I got married to my sweet husband. I have multiple female issues, but much to our surprise, after only a few months, I got pregnant. My husband and I were over the moon. Unfortunately, I started miscarrying at almost 10 weeks. I went into Early Labor, and my sweet friend Elesia was my nurse. She was a ray of light for me during one of the hardest days of my life.

Elesia and I kept in touch, and she would check on me periodically. My husband and I went on to have two more miscarriages and infertility issues after that. We decided to pursue fertility treatments and started the long, hard process of IVF. She would check on me frequently to see how I was “holding up” and would give me my injections at work. By the grace of God, we got pregnant with our rainbow baby, and one of the first people I told was Elesia. I knew I wanted her by my side the day I delivered. I was induced at 37 weeks for preeclampsia. She wasn’t scheduled at work the day I was supposed to be induced, but she picked up a shift to be there anyway.

I was in labor all day long and made it to 8 centimeters, and had to have a C-section. I was crying and scared and thinking, “This wasn’t how it was supposed to go.” It was past 7 o’clock when she should’ve gotten off, but again she stayed. She told me, “I know you aren’t going to ask me, but I’m staying with you.” I have never felt so much peace in my life, going into surgery. At 7:38 PM, my husband and I heard the beautiful cries of the rainbow boy we had fought so hard for. I looked over and I could see Elesia’s eyes smiling underneath her mask. She was there for one of the hardest days of my life and the best day of my life. She is an exceptional nurse, and there is no one more fitting for this award.

About DAISY:

In late 1999, at the age of 33, Patrick Barnes awoke with some blood blisters in his mouth. Having survived Hodgkin's Disease twice, he was admitted to the hospital and diagnosed with the auto-immune disease, ITP (Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura).

Said his father, Mark Barnes, "We are so blessed that we were able to spend the eight weeks of his hospitalization with him and his family. During those weeks, we experienced the best of Nursing. We were there to see the clinical skill that dealt with his very complex medical situation, the fast thinking of nurses who saved his life more than once, and that nursing excellence that took years to hone to the best of the profession. But frankly, as a patient family, we rather expected that Pat would have great clinical care. That was why he was in the hospital. What we did not expect was the way his nurses delivered that care - the kindness and compassion they gave Pat and all of us in his family every day. We were awed by the way the nurses touched him and spoke with him, even when he was on a ventilator and totally sedated. The way they informed and educated us eased our minds. They truly helped us through the darkest hours of our lives, with soft voices of hope and strong loving hugs that to this day, we still feel."

Just days after he died, the family began talking about what they would do to help fill the giant hole in their hearts that Pat’s passing had left. His wife came up with the acronym, DAISY, standing for diseases attacking the immune system. As they discussed what to do in Patrick’s memory, first and foremost, they wanted to say Thank You for the gifts nurses give their patients and families every day. That is when the family created The DAISY Award For Extraordinary Nurses.

For more information regarding Elesia's nomination, click here >>>