Sean Ford ’20 Earns Prestigious International Nursing Award

Curry College School of Nursing graduate and now registered nurse Sean Ford ’20 was recently named as a Daisy Award recipient, an international award honoring extraordinary nurses who go above and beyond with their clinical skill and compassion for patients, who define patient/family-centered care.

An emergency nurse at Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital, Sean was nominated by his colleague Alison Carr, BSN, RN, CEN, who described him as “an incredibly strong nurse that has time and time again shown his strength and outstanding nursing ability through even the most difficult and tragic of cases.” Honored to receive the award, Sean said, “It is a powerful reminder to us nurses that the exceptional care we give day in and day out does not go unnoticed.”

A four-year defenseman for the Curry men’s lacrosse team, Sean juggled the high demands of being an NCAA Division III student-athlete while also exceling in the nursing program. But during the Colonels’ annual spring break trip in March of 2020, Sean’s athletic career came to a screeching halt with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the disappointment that his career as a Colonel was over, Sean swapped his Purple & White jersey for a pair of scrubs after graduation in May of 2020. Soon after, he joined the ranks of healthcare heroes as an emergency nurse.

“Being a collegiate athlete made transitioning into the workforce that much easier,” said Sean. “As an athlete you learn many different skills such as discipline, organization, and time management from balancing schools work, sports, and social activities. You understand culture, spending countless hours with other teammates from around the world, learning how to work with one another to reach a common goal.”

Sean credits his instincts to give exceptional care to the faculty at the Curry College School of Nursing, who taught him critical healthcare skills with hands-on practice, commitment, and engaging material. “The success I had at Curry directly correlates with the success that I’ve had in the workforce. Over my four years, Curry helped create and form life skills that I will use for the rest of my life.”

Using the skills he learned at Curry College and on the job as an emergency nurse, Sean hopes to one day become a MedFlight nurse.