The winner of the 1st Daisy Award for International Neuroscience Nurse Leadership is Margo Simon, BSN, RN, CPN. Margo is the Program Coordinator for the comprehensive movement disorder and spasticity clinic and the deep brain stimulator clinic at Children’s Mercy Kansas City. The following comments are some of the many from her nomination.

Margo is the definition of extraordinary nursing. She not only takes care of her patients, but she provides them with the 1:1 attention that each patient needs. She is able to break things down so that our patient families can really understand. She encourages our patients to ask questions and reach out regarding their care. If she doesn’t have an answer for any patient, she does not stop until she finds one. She has formed bonds with her patients and their families that are unbreakable. She recognizes the uniqueness of her patient population and comes up with innovative ways to tailor required tasks to the population, such as the transition to adulthood program.

She has reshaped the way we care for these complex patients, with her own initiative. She arranges and completes pre-visit Teams calls with the patients and families, along with our pharmacist and Social Work if needed. She identifies the patient and family goals for the appointment, and conveys that, along with any concerns or barriers to treatment before the visit occurs. This has resulted in clinic visits that are incredibly smooth, thorough, and focused on what matters most, what the patient and family want to address/achieve at the visit. She has the unenviable task of keeping the entire team (4 physicians, 2 APRNS, residents, fellows, and nurses) focused and on task with our pre-clinic patient review meeting. As we are a talkative bunch, this is perhaps the most complicated aspect of her role, and she handles it masterfully.

Her heart for our patient population is incredible and I must say she is a pleasure to work with, learn from, and see in action.

(L. to R.) Cathy Cartwright, WFNN President; Stephanie Meyer, Sr. VP and CNO; Margo Simon, RN, Daisy Award winner; Allison Gardner, VP Clinical Operations, Children’s Mercy Kansas City.