Star Power
Nursing Excellence Awards celebrate profession's finest
By Rebecca Ray, profiles by Betsy Bannerman
November 1, 2004
Whether stars served as decorations on tablecloths or pins on lapels, they shone brightly at NurseWeek’s fifth annual Mountain West Nursing Excellence Awards banquet, “Starry, Starry Night.” But no stars shone brighter than the nurses who were honored Oct. 22 at the Flamingo Las Vegas.
About 200 attendees gathered to celebrate the accomplishments of 48 nurses, from which eight winners were selected in eight categories of achievement. Whether the 48 finalists worked at the bedside or were in charge of training other nurses or overseeing hospital operations, they all were recognized for one thing: traveling on a journey of distinction that has transformed others’ lives.
In delivering the keynote address, Karen Haase-Herrick, RN, MN, president of the American Organization of Nurse Executives, described what a pleasure she had reading the stories of the Nursing Excellence finalists — and she is not a “sit around” person.
She said she enjoys learning of the new ways that nurses make a long-lasting impact on others’ lives and is struck by the many ways that nurses find to excel. However, she said, although each nurse embarks on a different journey, they all experience several “crucible events” throughout their lives.
She defined a crucible event as one that causes a person to pause and think about how to make a difference.
Haase-Herrick closed her speech with the Robert Frost poem “The Road Not Taken,” which is about seeing two roads diverge and taking the road less traveled. She thanked the finalists for eyeing the crucible of the two roads and taking “the journey of excellence that has made a difference.”
Representatives from Catholic Healthcare West, the sponsor of the Lifetime Achievement Award — an honor separate from the eight category awards — expressed similar sentiments about the 48 finalists.
“The beauty of life is to give,” said Val Baciarelli, president of St. Rose Dominican Hospital’s Rose de Lima Campus in Henderson, Nev. “Each of you gives of yourself every day, and we all appreciate that.”
Patty White, RN, MS, chief operating officer at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix, read a reflection about God working overtime on the sixth day when making nurses — people who can assist the injured and comfort the dying while also being able to work 12-hour shifts and lift three times their own weight. White thanked all nurses for “rising to the calling that is nursing.”
The finalists weren’t the only stars that night. Haase-Herrick received the Lifetime Achievement Award, presented by White, Baciarelli, and Beth Ulrich, RN, EdD, CHE, senior vice president of professional services for Nursing Spectrum, which publishes NurseWeek.
Haase-Herrick, who was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Army in 1970, spent 23 years working in the Army and developed its first written patient education booklet. Since 1997, she has been involved in activities across Oregon and Washington related to nursing, and is executive director of the Northwest Organization of Nurse Executives. She is largely credited with the Oregon and Washington groups being able to function as one organization.
When Haase-Herrick was invited to say a few words, she described her own crucible event — when she was offered the opportunity to apply for medical school, but after watching what physicians did, she realized that their job was not for her and decided to stay in nursing.
She received a recognition plaque and a $2,500 donation in her name to be given to the nursing organization of her choice.
But more than recognizing individual achievements, the night was about celebrating nursing. In her closing remarks, Ulrich encouraged all of the nurses to recognize and celebrate the joys and achievements that can be found in nursing every day.
Advancing the Profession
Marty Enriquez, RN, MS
Vice President, Patient Care Services,
University Medical Center, Tucson, Ariz.
Ever since bandaging her pets and dolls as a child, Marty Enriquez planned on being a nurse. Asked why she didn’t become a doctor, she says, “I wanted to care for the whole patient, to be there all the time to make a difference in their care.” Under her direction, UMC has achieved a nurse-to-patient ratio of 1-to-4 and has become Arizona’s first and only Magnet hospital. Enriquez also inaugurated a middle school nursing camp, a high school patient care technician-training program, a four-week UMC internship for new nursing graduates, and a mentoring program between RNs at UMC and Pima Community College. She also implemented a continuing education program available to nurses in the Tucson area through the Nursing Education Institute.
Enriquez expressed surprise at winning this award. “Everyone was worthy,” she said. However, her nominator, Kathryn DiPierro, director of perioperative services at UMC, called her “a visionary for nursing.” Colleagues call her “a nurse’s nurse.”
Enriquez praised the support she has received for her ideas from her board of directors, CEO, and coworkers. “Most ideas in nursing are arrived at collaboratively,” she said, “a team working together. And many things we set out to do don’t have immediate rewards. They are investments for the future, to keep nursing moving and advancing as a profession.”
Clinical Care
Terri Kiernan, RN, BSN, CCRN, CNRN
Clinical Coordinator of Neurosciences,
St. Rose Dominican Hospital, Henderson, Nev.
The daughter of two psychiatric nurses, Terri Kiernan decided on neuroscience nursing when a potential employer told her, “We already know everything we need to know about the heart, but the brain is a mystery in so many ways, much more of a challenge.” Kiernan never looked back.
She designed and developed the unique neuroscience program at St. Rose and is the liaison between surgeons, nurses, even equipment vendors. She holds monthly meetings and inservice training for all staff to improve their technical and professional competence. She created modules and booklets to educate nurses regarding brain injuries. “And with over 140 nurses going through the program,” said her nominator, chief nursing officer Sandy Rush, “that’s a lot of sharing of her great clinical care skills and knowledge.”
Kiernan invented Child Safety Day at St. Rose and educates teens on the dangers of STDs and alcohol and drug abuse, and teaches adults about heart attacks and strokes. She is also a dedicated, “hands-on” nurse. Her coworkers say she has such a passion for nursing that she is “infectious.”
Kiernan returns the compliment. “They have allowed me to utilize my creativity and passion for neuroscience nursing and create a program that has not existed in the Henderson area. A nurse could not handpick a better organization to work for.”
Community Service
Diana Morneault, RN, BSN, OCN
Breast Care Coordinator, Sunrise Hospital
and Medical Center, Las Vegas
Diana Morneault’s mom was an emergency department nurses aide for many years and Morneault frequently observed “the incredible work nurses performed.” Originally pursuing a pre-pharmacy degree in college, she then realized “nursing is where I belonged. I wanted to be with the patient.”
Morneault believes it is through community awareness and education that the war on cancer will be won. Two years ago, she took a leap of faith and invented her job as breast care coordinator at Sunrise. “I am not afraid to take on huge challenges,” she said. It is the first hospital-based program in the community to educate and support women with breast cancer and is free. Sunrise supports her work even though the hospital generates no revenue from it.
Morneault developed the entire program, including providing resources and a breast care hotline, monitoring abnormal mammograms, suggesting coping mechanisms for newly diagnosed women, and visiting mastectomy patients.
As a volunteer for the American Cancer Society, the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, and the local chapter of the Oncology Nursing Society, Morneault has given hundreds of presentations on breast health. She has also mentored and trained some 200 nurses in a chemotherapy and biotherapy provider course. She is a 20-year veteran of oncology nursing.
“While it’s very high tech, it is also very high touch,” she said. “And it is the connectedness to the patients that I enjoy most.”
Innovation/Creativity
Beth Martin, BSN, MBA
Operations Director, Continuum of Care,
Kaiser Permanente, Aurora, Colo.
Beth Martin has worked in many areas of nursing — clinical, academic, public health, industrial, and administrative. “I like the balance of science and humanity that the profession offers,” she said.
Nominated by a physician, nurse, and physical therapist, she in turn has high praise for her colleagues. “They always approach things with tremendous excitement, willingness to stretch themselves, a positive attitude toward risk-taking, and true teamwork,” she said.
Carol Barnes, one of Martin’s employees and nominators, wrote, “In a recent company seminar highlighting creative ideas, most departments presented one or two fabulous projects. There were 18 [from Martin’s] department.” In addition, Barnes said, “Beth is highly skilled at partnering with others, so her ingenious ideas actually get implemented.”
Martin sponsored a regionwide model to improve wound care in outpatient clinics. She created programs in which various health care professionals aided seniors in their homes or assisted living centers and integrated nurse practitioners into a previously all-physician nursing home rounding model. She has been innovative in helping staff pursue career development and increased job satisfaction. She also updated her department’s record-keeping system and persuaded Kaiser Permanente to commit to three research studies on palliative care.
Ingrid Venohr, another employee/nominator, said, “Beth is always looking for new ways of viewing situations, reframing problems as opportunities for creating a new and better future.”
Leadership
Susan Grant, RN, MS, CNAA, BC
Chief Nursing Officer, University of
Washington Medical Center, Seattle
“I love that in nursing, there are endless opportunities to make a real difference at pivotal points in people’s lives,” Susan Grant said. The daughter of a nurse (“It’s in my blood”), she worked in a nursing home for one summer in college and decided that nursing was “a part of who I was all along.” Having served as a staff nurse, case manager, unit manager, nursing supervisor, and executive director during the last 21 years, Grant believes that nursing administration allows her to “effect change and improve the health care experience for patients, their families, nurses, and every member of the interdisciplinary team.”
Her particular forte has been encouraging patients to partner with medical staff in the decision-making affecting their care. Last year, Grant helped inaugurate the Patient Care Services Quality Model and the Patient/Family Advisory Program at UWMC. She also established Synergy, a quarterly publication to highlight the cooperation of patient care services.
Grant’s inspiring leadership has resulted in keeping recruitment high and turnover low, with a certification salary premium to reward excellence. She frequently holds open forums to respond to staff concerns and has developed an endowment fund for nursing education, certification, and development. Grant’s nominator, Cindy Angiulo, said she “sets the tone for an environment where nurses feel valued and respected.”
Similarly, Grant said she is “blessed to be surrounded by talented and gifted people.”
Mentoring
Lt. Col. Karen Dunlap, MSN, CNS, CNOR
Deputy Chief, Consolidated Education, U.S. Army,
Madigan Army Medical Center, Tacoma, Wash.
Called the “Energizer Bunny” by coworkers, Lt. Col. Karen Dunlap is always “looking for opportunities to grow and to help those around her do the same,” according to her nominator, Kristina Stillsmoking.
Dunlap decided to become a nurse when she was in the third grade and her grandmother got sick. She joined the Army Nurse Corps in 1985 and gained experience as a staff nurse and then head nurse in many different areas. A much-decorated soldier, she conducts year-round classes for Army nurses at Madigan and is responsible for their daily conduct.
“She expects the best from her students, helps them achieve it, and always challenges them to reach inside to find that hidden strength or talent,” Stillsmoking said.
Dunlap uses her personality, humor, and positive attitude to inspire others to leadership and career advancement. She patiently explains, offers advice, suggests solutions, champions causes, and shares her wisdom, according to Stillsmoking. Dunlap has been chosen to serve on many committees and boards, including one that selects enlisted soldiers to become commissioned officers. She has written articles, given speeches, made a video, and recently launched a successful Medical Magnet Program for high school students.
“I would follow her into battle any day,” Stillsmoking said.
Dunlap credits those she works with. “My peers, subordinates, and leaders have made me successful,” she said.
Patient Advocacy
Audrey Schoonmaker, RN, BSN
Breathmobile Clinical Nurse,
Phoenix Children’s Hospital, Phoenix
“I was always sick as a child 85 coughing for sometimes months at a time,” Audrey Schoonmaker said. Finally diagnosed with asthma at age 25, she said that now seeing asthmatic children “able to do the things that were always so hard for me as a child brings me daily pleasure.”
Schoonmaker works in an area of Phoenix with a high asthma morbidity rate and where poverty, no health insurance, lack of transportation to clinics and pharmacies, and minimal English-speaking skills often hinder families’ access to good health care.
Schoonmaker’s innovative efforts to treat asthmatic children have included developing a game about asthma, visiting libraries and the Internet to find videos in Spanish, and donating toys as rewards to children for taking their medications. “Numerous Barbies showed up in our prize box after Christmas — funded by Audrey,” her nominator, Sherry Hunkler, said.
Schoonmaker learned Spanish and often serves as an interpreter at pharmacies for families who feel intimidated by the U.S. health care system. She allows parents to freely participate in the child’s asthma action plan development, trying to incorporate some of their nontraditional medical practices while educating them about appropriate care.
“I call this my perfect job,” Schoonmaker said. “I get to teach, case manage, treat, and help families on a daily basis 85 And I can see the difference our efforts make.”
Teaching
Mary Schoessler, RN, EdD, MS Director, Nursing Education,
Providence Portland Medical Center, Portland, Ore.
“I love nurses,” Mary Schoessler said with a smile. She said she became one to help people, but “I didn’t realize how nursing would influence me and push me to grow as a person.” Her impact has been both local and international.
Her leadership role at PPMC has resulted in implementing large-scale projects and programs.
She single-handedly developed the residency program there — “a model for other systems to match” — and has focused on challenging nurses to advance in their careers, “putting infrastructure in place for their development and promotion,” as she puts it.
She also works as an adjunct faculty at Oregon Health & Science University, refining patient education programs and exploring health-related aspects of cultural diversity. And she has been the principal investigator for a research study on “narrative community,” a support program for new nurses.
Internationally, Schoessler is involved in a collaborative educational research project with Russian nurse leaders and is cofounder and board member of Dobra Inc., which provides education, equipment, and supplies to improve the care of elderly, disabled, and end-of-life patients throughout the world.
She feels lucky to have the support of her education team and especially her boss, Arlene Austinson, who encourages her to “explore projects that are a little bit out there.”
Rebecca Ray, is an assistant managing editor and Betsy Bannerman is a freelance writer for NurseWeek.