News

Parkwest Medical Center recently held its annual reception in honor of National Nurses Week. This recogni­tion week is held each year in mid-May to coincide with the birthday of Florence Nightingale, who is credited as the founder of modern nursing.                                                                                                                                          

The reception at Parkwest hon­oring its nurses has evolved over the past decade to provide special acknowledgement and scholarships for those who go above and beyond in their mission to provide excellent care to each patient by faithfully aiding physicians in their work – just as they promised under oath at their graduation by reciting the Nightingale Pledge.

“We are fortunate to have a group of outstanding nurses at Parkwest,” said President and Chief Adminis­trative Officer Rick Lassiter. “I re­ceive countless CARES comments every year about how dedicated and professional our nurses are. It is a privilege to work with them.”

“We currently have 803 Regis­tered Nurses. Each of them gives their all to care for our patients – 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It’s an honor to celebrate them each year during National Nurses Week,” said Diane Oliver, Parkwest Vice Presi­dent and Chief Nursing Officer.

Parkwest Medical Staff estab­lished a Clinical Excellence Award Scholarship program in 2000 to provide financial assistance for selected nurses to use for educa­tional purposes. Every year, each unit at the hospital selects a win­ner and they are recognized during the Nurses Week Reception. Since its inception, Clinical Excellence Awards have been given to more than 250 nurses who use the schol­arship to attend national confer­ences in their specialty area. This helps make Parkwest nurses bet­ter informed on the latest in health care. They share their knowledge with their peers to further cultivate best practices at Parkwest.

The winners of this year’s Clini­cal Excellence Awards at Parkwest are: Claire Austin, Critical Care; Mary Ball, Pre-Admission Testing; Denise Bean, Surgery; Michelle Beeler, Peninsula; Regina Buchan­an, Ambulatory Staging Unit; Ann Burchfield, 4 Riverstone; Jennifer Conner, Emergency Care Center; Penny Cruze, 3 Montvue; Liz Cum­berland, Cardiac Specialty Unit; Vickie Fraser, Peninsula; Linda Frost, Post-Anesthesia Care Unit; Jennifer Johnson, Orthopedics; Re­ita Johnson, Cath Lab; Pat Lanza, Peninsula; Wanda Limburg, Senior Behavioral Center; Ashley Luttrell, Childbirth Center; Terri Munsey, Cardio-Thoracic Surgical Unit, Kerri Onks, 2 Montvue; Kent Par­ris, Peninsula; Wanda Price, Float Pool; Bonnie Scarlett, Quality & Clinical Effectiveness; LaDonna Sy, 4 Montvue; Glenda Thomas, Imag­ing; Rhonda Valentine, Peninsula; and Margie Watkins, Endoscopy.                                                                      

The Susan Foster, RN Profes­sional Development Award was created in memory of “Sue” who dedicated an endless level of enthu­siasm each and every day, creatively tackling each project. This award is specifically designed to honor an employee of Parkwest who is in pur­suit of a nursing degree. This year, the award was given to Nick Bittle, a Certified Nursing Assistant on the orthopedic floor.

Dr. Jesse Doers, on behalf of Stat­care Medical Group, presented the second annual Janet Heffern, RN Critical Care Scholarships. Statcare established the scholarships in 2011 in honor of Heffern who, prior to her retirement, worked in Critical Care and had been with Parkwest since its doors originally opened in 1973. One award is presented to a recent nursing graduate and the other to a clinical coach or mentor on the unit.

“In my eyes, there are three things that make a great clinician: their compassion and care for their patients; their thirst for knowledge and ongoing learning; and their improving processes and teaching colleagues in order to raise the bar of excellence. Janet is the epitome of all of these,” said Doers.

Alex Geer was named the 2012 new graduate recipient and Melanie Reagan was the clinical coach re­cipient of the Janet Heffern Critical Care Award. 

The Leanne Baker Professional Nurse Awards are the most presti­gious nursing honors given at Park­west. These were established in memory of Baker to recognize the very best of the best – the people who set the standard for profession­al nursing. Baker contributed to the standard for nursing care through her compassion for the patient, pro­fessional demeanor and unwaver­ing leadership.

As a reflection of the many paths a nurse can take, this award honors excellence in two distinct paths – clinical care and leadership.

This year, Parkwest House Su­pervisor, Carol Finley, was award­ed the Leanne Baker Professional Nurse Award for Nursing Leader­ship. Amanda Underwood, who currently works as a nurse educa­tor and spent many years as a criti­cal care nurse, was awarded the Leanne Baker Professional Nurse Award for Professional Practice.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

“I recently saw a patient in my office for follow-up after what was a very difficult surgery and hospitalization,” said Dr. Willard Campbell, Parkwest Chief of Staff during his remarks at the recep­tion. “Medically he was doing well, and he and his wife went on and on about what an exceptional experi­ence they had at Parkwest – from the time they registered all the way to discharge. At every level the praise revolved around people, most especially nurses, who made a difficult time a little easier. Nurs­ing is a stressful and demanding profession and I think nurses may not always appreciate the profound impact they have on patients. I am proud to be associated with the nurses at Parkwest who so con­sistently maintain an attitude of kindness and professionalism to­ward their patients – and make us docs look good as well!”