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“Heather Cannova is a wonderful team member and an excellent teacher!"

Heather Cannova, FNP-C, “always goes the extra mile for every patient.” For this and more stellar traits, the nurse practitioner at UVA Health Family Medicine and Same Day Care Dominion has earned a UVA Health Medical Group DAISY Award!

Her nominator, Kaitlyn Zick, Medical Assistant, adds: “Heather shows empathy, kindness and caring to everyone she sees and maintains a level of professionalism that should be strived for. She is a wonderful coworker and excellent teacher!”

The UVA Community Health Nursing Professional Governance Organization (NPGO) honors UVA Health nurses each quarter with a DAISY Award. 

Taking Time for Mentorship and Turning Lives Around

Zick notes Cannova shines not only in her patient care, but also in in helping other team members. “When a patient in our office went into respiratory arrest and was nonresponsive, not only did Heather jump in to make sure EMS [Emergency Medical Services] was enroute and to manually ventilate the patient with an ambulance bag, she also took the time to teach me how to bag properly, as it was my first code. She remained calm and got the patient into the right hands!”

Zick shares another example of Cannova’s consideration and attention to detail. “She also has turned someone's life around by taking a patient with bipolar disorder off the wrong medication and starting them on ones that had the patient returning with a smile saying they had never felt better and couldn't thank her enough. Heather is an example of how a little bit of kindness goes a long way.”

In Her Own Words

Cannova has been a nurse practitioner for six years, and has worked at UVA Health for two years. She says she’s living out her career goals: “I want to help get this clinic off the ground and keep people coming back.” She’s also working on creating a work/life balance that allows her to stay healthy, so that she can continue to work until she's ready to retire. 

When asked what the DAISY Award means to her, Heather responds, “It means I am doing something right. I am using my nurse educator degree the way I always wanted: nurturing new and future nurses. It means a lot that I have had a good impact on those I work with!”  

Know a Fabulous Nurse?

"DAISY" stands for "Diseases Attacking the Immune System." The DAISY Award was established by The DAISY Foundation in memory of J. Patrick Barnes, who died at the age of only 33 of an autoimmune disease. The Barnes Family was awestruck by the clinical skills, caring, and compassion of his nurses — so they created this national award to thank nurses everywhere.

Patients or their family members; visitors; and team members can submit a nomination for a UVA Health Culpeper, Haymarket, or Prince William Medical Center, or Medical Group nurse.