University of Maryland Shore Regional Health’s Nurse Excellence Awards Ceremony was held on Monday, May 6 at the Todd Performing Arts Center at Chesapeake College. The occasion was the premier event in the celebration of Nurses’ Week 2018, May 6-11.
The 2019 Shore Regional Health Nurse Excellence Award winners are:
• Commitment to Others – Anne George, Clinical Nurse, UM Shore Emergency Center at Queenstown
• Leadership – Nicole Leonard, Stroke Center Coordinator, Neuroscience, UM Shore Medical Center at Easton
• Mentorship/Advocacy – Ann Robinson, Clinical Nurse, Emergency Department, UM Shore Medical Center at Dorchester
• Professional Nursing Practice– Dawn Ruby, 2 East MultiSpecialty Unit, UM Shore Medical Center at Easton
• Promising Professional – Chelsea Compton, Clinical Nurse, Shore Behavioral Health, UM Shore Medical Center at Dorchester
• Unit/Department Award for Empirical Outcomes – 2 East MultiSpecialty Unit, UM Shore Medical Center at Easton
Also honored at the event were this year’s graduates of UM Shore Regional Health’s Nurse Residency Program: Laura Brittingham, Sarah Burns, Chelsea Compton, Kim Houtz, Olga Negrete, Uyen Nguen, Megan Schisler and Hannah Wellman. Inaugurated in 2002 in response to the challenges of filling nursing vacancies in critical care areas, the Nurse Residency Program has graduated 393 nurses, more than 60 percent of whom are still members of the Shore Regional Health nursing team.
Ruth Ann Jones, UM Shore Regional Health’s senior vice president of Patient Care Services and chief nursing officer,led the ceremonies and thanked the Nurse Excellence Awards Committee for their successful management of the awards nomination and selection process. “This awards program was established by nurses and for nurses as a way to recognize those who go above and beyond to always deliver exceptional care,” Jones said.“Given the demands of our transition to EPIC and preparation for Joint Commission reaccreditation, I am very impressed that so many individuals took the time and effort to submit nominations for this year’s Nurse Excellence awards.”
Ken Kozel, UM SRH president and CEO, and William Huffner, senior vice president and chief medical officer, also spoke during the ceremony, expressing their appreciation for the outstanding dedication of the 600-plus nurses serving patients in inpatient and outpatient care programs throughout the five county region, and also for the sacrifices made by family members of nurses who work long hours, including weekends and holidays, that take away from time together.
Before the ceremonies closed, Jones was surprised with special tribute honoring her leadership as CNO and her decades of professional nursing practice, her mentorship of scores of individual nurses and advocacy of the profession of nursing, and her modeling of the UM SRH values of Respect, Integrity, Teamwork, Excellence and Service. Several former and current colleagues shared stories of Jones’ many contributions to the ongoing advancement of nursing at UM Shore Regional Health. Speaking last, Kozel stated, “Ruth Ann has been a highly effective leader for our nursing team, helping to make us the best of the best. With her guidance and support, we have succeeded through many transitions and accomplished major goals in just the past year that would normally have taken many years to achieve.”
As part of the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS), University of Maryland Shore Regional Health is
the principal provider of comprehensive health care services for more than 170,000 residents of Caroline,
Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne’s and Talbot counties on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. UM Shore Regional Health’s
team of more than 2,300 employees, medical staff, board members and volunteers work with various community
partners to fulfill the organization’s mission of Creating Healthier Communities Together.
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