Presenting Jessica Koon (second from left) of the Critical Care Unit with NMMC’s most recent DAISY Award are (from left) Emily Edwards, director of nursing practice; Megan Bunch, director of nursing; and David Wilson, president.

TUPELO, Miss.—Koon was nominated by the wife of a patient who was admitted to the Critical Care Unit from the Emergency Department. “I was unaware of any of this. Once I got to the floor, Jessica was so calming and reassuring, even though things didn’t look good,” she wrote. “She got the chaplain to come on more than one occasion. Eleven days later when my husband woke up and was moved, she still remembered my name and his when she saw me in the hall and after her shift ended. This meant so much to know how much she cared.”

A Saltillo resident, Koon earned her associate and bachelor’s degree in nursing from Mississippi University for Women in Columbus. She joined the NMMC staff in 2015 as a member of the Nursing Resource Pool. She also worked in Cancer Care and as a travel nurse before transferring to the Critical Care Unit in 2019.

Koon received a certificate, a DAISY Award pin, a bouquet donated by Bishop’s Flower Shop and a hand-carved stone sculpture titled A Healer’s Touch.

The DAISY Award is an international program that rewards and celebrates the extraordinary compassionate and skillful care given by nurses every day. For more information, call (662) 377-3431 or email daisyawards@nmhs.net.