Nurse has been with Atrium Health Floyd Since 1991
ROME, Ga., Feb. 27, 2025 – Daphne Williams, LPN, has a special rapport with patients because she really cares.
Williams came to Atrium Health Floyd Medical Center in 1991 as a home health tech, transferred to different areas and eventually became a licensed practical nurse. Today, she brings her smile to make Infusion Therapy patients comfortable.
When asked what motivates her to come to work each day, her answer is simple yet profound: “To make my patients happy. I love to see a smile on their faces. I want them to feel when they leave like they have been well taken care of.”
Because of her dedication and compassion, Williams has earned a DAISY Award, which recognizes nurses for their bedside care.
The family of Patrick Barnes established the DAISY Foundation after Barnes died from an auto-immune disease while being treated in a Seattle hospital.
Sheila Bennett, senior vice president and chief of patient services at Atrium Health Floyd, presented Williams with a DAISY pin, and a sculpture entitled “A Healer’s Touch.” Members of the Shona ethnic group in Zimbabwe hand-carve the sculptures.
The nurse and her teammates were also treated with cinnamon buns, a DAISY tradition because it was one of the few things Barnes could eat while he was hospitalized.
“I am so happy for you,” Bennett said to Williams. “I have known you since I walked through the doors of this organization 17 years ago. We are blessed to have you. You are in the right place, and I think God puts us in the place we are supposed to be.”
Willliams was nominated for the award by teammate Lisa Wheeler, RN, who wrote: “When this nurse walks through in the mornings, her ‘Hello, everyone’ precedes her. You never know what adventures working with her will get you into. If you know, you know. She is one of a kind and she is always making sure our patients are comfortable and feel at home when they come through our door until they leave to go home.”
If you know an Atrium Health Floyd nurse who provided exceptional care of you or a loved one, you can nominate them for a DAISY award by completing this online form.
About Atrium Health Floyd
The Atrium Health Floyd family of health care services is a leading medical provider and economic force in northwest Georgia and northeast Alabama. Atrium Health Floyd is part of Charlotte, North Carolina-based Advocate Health, the third-largest nonprofit health system in the United States, created from the combination of Atrium Health and Advocate Aurora Health. Atrium Health Floyd strategically combined with Harbin Clinic in 2024 and employs more than 5,200 teammates who provide care in over 40 medical specialties at four facilities: Atrium Health Floyd Medical Center – a 361-bed full-service, acute care hospital and regional referral center in Rome, Georgia; Atrium Health Floyd Polk Medical Center in Cedartown, Georgia; and Atrium Health Floyd Cherokee Medical Center in Centre, Alabama; and Atrium Health Floyd Medical Center Behavioral Health, also in Rome. Together, Atrium Health Floyd and Harbin Clinic provide primary care, specialty care and urgent care throughout northwest Georgia and northeast Alabama. Atrium Health Floyd also operates a stand-alone emergency department in Chattooga County, the first such facility to be built from the ground-up in Georgia.
About Advocate Health
Advocate Health is the third-largest nonprofit, integrated health system in the United States, created from the combination of Advocate Aurora Health and Atrium Health. Providing care under the names
Advocate Health Care in Illinois;
Atrium Health in the Carolinas, Georgia and Alabama; and
Aurora Health Care in Wisconsin, Advocate Health is a national leader in clinical innovation, health outcomes, consumer experience and value-based care. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, Advocate Health services nearly 6 million patients and is engaged in hundreds of clinical trials and research studies, with
Wake Forest University School of Medicine serving as the academic core of the enterprise. Advocate Health is nationally recognized for its expertise in heart and vascular, neurosciences, oncology, pediatrics and rehabilitation, as well as organ transplants, burn treatments and specialized musculoskeletal programs. Advocate Health employs more than 160,000 teammates across 69 hospitals and over 1,000 care locations and offers one of the nation's largest graduate medical education programs with over 2,000 residents and fellows across more than 200 programs. Committed to redefining care for all, Advocate Health provides more than $6 billion in annual community benefits.