MANCHESTER, NH – Easterseals New Hampshire is proud to announce Molly Barufaldi, a Medical Detox Registered Nurse in its substance use treatment services program, as the 2024 recipient of The DAISY Award® For Extraordinary Nurses. A celebration for Barufaldi was held yesterday in observance of National Nurses Week at the Farnum Center, Easterseals NH’s comprehensive alcohol and drug addiction treatment center where Barufaldi works. Easterseals NH’s Senior Leadership Team members, as well as supervisors, peers, and family, were in attendance.
The award is part of the DAISY Foundation’s programs to recognize the superhuman efforts nurses perform every day. Nominators were encouraged to share detailed stories about how the nurse they knew or worked with handled a specific patient, client, or situation.
“One of Molly’s most endearing qualities is her ability to listen. She has a special knack for letting someone speak without interruption and offering silent comfort with her bright blue eyes and concerned expression,” said Rachel Mattin, Molly’s nominator and colleague at Farnum. “She is someone I look up to both as a nurse and a friend.”
In her nomination, Mattin shared a story of how she, then a resident instructor at Farnum, called upon Molly for assistance in meeting the needs of a client with significant cognitive impairment and medical issues. She recalls that Molly sat with the client for approximately 45 minutes, answering her questions, alleviating her anxieties, and even assisting with making a phone call to her pharmacy.
“The patience, consistency, and kindness I witnessed from Molly’s nursing technique during that interaction have remained with me throughout my time at Farnum,” Mattin said. “This is only one of the many occasions in which I was both humbled and awed by Molly’s gift of nursing.”
The DAISY Foundation was established by family members of J. Patrick Barnes in his memory. Patrick died in late 1999 at the age of 33 from complications of Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura, a little-known but not uncommon auto-immune disease. The care Patrick and his family received from nurses while he was ill inspired this unique means of thanking nurses for making a profound difference in the lives of their patients and the patient’s families.
“When Patrick was critically ill, our family experienced first-hand the remarkable skill and care nurses provide patients every day and night,” said Bonnie Barnes, co-founder of The Daisy Foundation. “The kind of work the nurses are called on to do every day epitomizes the purpose of the DAISY Award.”
While one DAISY Award winner is selected from Easterseals NH or Farnum per year, there were a total of 28 staff nominations for Molly and 15 other agency nurses—Alicia Boudreau, Haelie Burton, Charlie Clough, Cara Dalrymple, Emily Donati, Patricia Flynn, Jessica Holmes, Jeane Horne, Amanda Jennings, Moses Mokua, Lilia Pagan-Irizarry, Gale Pascale, Barbara Ribeiro, Chelsea Sheppard, and Elizabeth Vozzella.
More information on the DAISY Award is available at https://www.daisyfoundation.org/.
About Farnum
Founded in 1981, Farnum is Easterseals New Hampshire’s comprehensive alcohol and other drug addiction treatment program. The center helps adults and their families in New Hampshire and beyond find freedom from substance use. From CARF-accredited centers in Manchester, NH, Farnum offers detoxification, residential, and outpatient programs under the guidance of an experienced clinical and medical team. Care is customized to the unique needs of each client.
For more information, visit farnumcenter.org or follow us @FarnumCenter on Facebook.