Silver Cross nurse Hans Schulte receives DAISY Award

Hans Schulte says he loves working with people on their health, starting from when he was a fitness trainer to becoming a nurse on the front lines during a pandemic.

“I felt I needed to make that personal connection deeper, more clinical,” said Schulte, an intensive care unit nurse for the past four of the nine years he’s worked at Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox. “I felt kind of a calling.”

Schulte recently earned an international award honoring nurses who provide skillful, compassionate care.

In their nominating letter for the DAISY Award, Susie Wolf, daughter-in-law of James Wolf Sr., explained how Schulte took time while working with other critically ill patients to provide comfort to the family in their father’s last days.

“From our first phone conversation with Hans, we instantly knew our dad was in good hands,” Wolf wrote. “… No one should ever have to say goodbye to a loved one this way. It feels distant, disconnected, cold, and painful. But Hans made this so much better for us.”

Wolf said they wanted to find a way to single out Schulte’s care and compassion.

“How do you say ‘thank you,’ when thank you isn’t enough?” she said. “He was there for dad when we couldn’t be.”

She researched the DAISY Award, and confirmed with several nursing friends it is a high honor for nurses. Not only did they nominate him for the award, they started a social media campaign asking followers to create “thank you Hans” signs. They received so many, they created a poster they presented to Hans during the DAISY Award ceremony at Silver Cross.

They got to meet him briefly, and safely, at the award ceremony at Silver Cross in late 2020.

Schulte is humbled by the award, though somber for the reason, and thankful to the Wolfs. Seeing firsthand the effects of COVID-19, he hopes people take the virus seriously.

“The virus is no joke,” he said. “It can be very bad. Please stay safe.”