National Park Medical Center honors three nurses with DIASY Award

National Park Medical Center honors three nurses with DIASY Award

(Hot Springs, AR) June 09, 2025—National Park Medical Center awarded three nurses with The DAISY Award® For Extraordinary Nurses. Joy Speers, a licensed practical nurse on the Senior Care Unit, and Sarah Spears and Michael Acosta, both registered nurses on the Intensive Care Unit, were honored with the award in a recent ceremony.

“We are incredibly proud to honor these three extraordinary nurses with the DAISY Award,” said Nikki Reed, Assistant Chief Nursing Officer. “Their compassion, dedication, and commitment to excellence truly embody the spirit of nursing at NPMC.”

All three exemplify what it means to be a nurse that makes patients and their families feel seen and heard.

“Being an ICU nurse is more than a job; it’s a calling,” Acosta said. “It means standing at the intersection of life and loss, providing critical care, but also offering compassion, dignity, and hope. It’s being present in the hardest moments and knowing that, even when medicine can only do so much, human connection still makes a difference. As a nurse, I am privileged to serve, support, and fight for my patients every single day.”

Sarah Spears said being nominated meant a great deal to her, especially coming from a coworker. “We work alongside each other every day, often in high stress situations where there isn’t time to pause or reflect,” she said. “For someone I work with to feel my actions were worth a Daisy nomination is incredibly meaningful.”

“I was so truly honored to receive this award,” said Joy Speers. “I have been a nurse for 33 years and for six of those years I have spent working with hospice patients. I sat by the bedside of many patients as they took their last breath, holding their hands and singing to them. Compassion, dignity and respect are what families want. They want you to listen to them, hear their stories and understand. That is so very important in nursing.”

The not-for-profit DAISY Foundation is based in Glen Ellen, CA, and was established by family members in memory of J. Patrick Barnes.  Patrick died at the age of 33 in late 1999 from complications of Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (ITP), 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 patient families.  

About National Park Medical Center 

National Park Medical Center is a 163-bed full-service acute care hospital located in Hot Springs, Arkansas.  Our mission is simple: Making Communities Healthier.  We are a part of the LifePoint Health family of hospitals, which means we aim to create a place where people choose to come for healthcare, physicians want to practice, and employees want to work.  Our core values are honesty, integrity & trustworthiness, inclusion, compassion and legal/ethical compliance.  Our hospital’s Joint Commission accreditation powerfully demonstrates our commitment to meeting the highest national standards for quality and safety.