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They Make a Difference

For more than a decade, Nursing Spectrum’s Nursing Excellence Awards program has recognized the extraordinary contributions New England’s nurses make to their patients, each other, and the profession. This year, nurses from Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island came forward to tell us about RNs who make a difference in the profession every day.

The peers of these exceptional healthcare professionals sent detailed nominations for the 2009 Nursing Excellence Awards. The nominees include staff nurses, specialists, nurse practitioners, nurse managers, nurse educators, and nurse administrators who work in areas of practice as disparate as infection control, maternal-child, oncology, and emergency nursing.

No matter what the role or setting, these nurses have found ways to raise the bar for their colleagues and the quality of life of their patients. Nursing Spectrum hopes their stories will inspire all of our readers to reach for excellence.

In 2008, New England procured a rare distinction. Two local finalists went on to national prominence, representing the region as the National Nurse of the Year in the Mentoring and Clinical Care categories. Marsha Fonteyn, RN, PhD, OCN, and Col. Joseph Blansfield, RN, MS, ANP-BC, were honored at a celebration for the six national winners last November in Las Vegas.

From the many tributes we received for this year’s program, we narrowed the competition to five outstanding nurses in each of six categories, for a total of 30 finalists:

Advancing and Leading the Profession

• MARTHA A.Q. CURLEY, RN, PhD, FAAN
Nurse Scientist, Critical Care and Cardiovascular Program
Children’s Hospital Boston

Curley's coworkers say her clinical work is exceptional, and her research is visionary. The unifying theme throughout Curley's career has been knowledge development in the clinical management of critically ill infants and children and their families. In the past three decades, her career has evolved from pediatric staff nurse to internationally known clinical researcher whose solid contributions have advanced the discipline of pediatric critical care. She has lectured extensively in the United States and abroad on a continuum of pediatric critical care clinical topics. For the past several years, she has concentrated on teaching evidence-based practice and clinical research methods to critical care medical fellows and nurses. The nominee recognizes the vast potential of novice nurses, as well as cultivates and challenges evidence-based practice in experienced nursing colleagues.

• LOIS A. DAY, RN, ADN, CEN, TNCC, ENPC
Clinical Coordinator, Express Care
Wentworth-Douglass Hospital

Day takes enormous pride in the ED and in her role as emergency nurse ambassador to the staff, hospital and community as clinical coordinator. She is an ED nurse who has practiced at WDH for 34 years. Colleagues identify her as an extremely capable ED RN coordinator with strong organizational skills. She has had an active role in New England Regional Conference for emergency nurses, serving on many committees such as education, fund raising and other aspects of the organization, influencing emergency nursing in a professional role within New England and beyond. Her colleagues identify her as an extremely capable ED RN coordinator with strong organizational skills. Her lead of the ED express care promotes and assures that quality patient care is achieved via problem solving, staff coaching, communication and appropriate feedback. Her goal of a high standard of nursing practice and patient care is unwavering.

• JANIS (JAN) P. BELLACK, RN, PHD, FAAN
President and John Hilton Knowles Professor
MGH Institute of Health Professions

Bellack is regarded as a leader in nursing education, and her influence can be found in related programs locally, regionally and nationally. Her early career focused on nursing education, and for the past decade or more, she has been responsible for leading and shaping health professions education across a range of disciplines. Her pioneering perspective has become critical to educating nurses, as well as other healthcare professionals. Her impact extends nationwide. Since 1997 she has been a senior consultant and core faculty team member for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundations Executive Nurse Fellows Program based at the University of California, San Francisco, Center for the Health Professions.

• CECILIA M. MCVEY, BSN, MHA, CAN
Associate Director Nursing/Patient Care
VA Boston Healthcare System

McVey is a visionary nursing leader who has gained the respect and admiration of over 500 nurses who have worked under her leadership. She continues to be a dynamic leader who inspires others to forge in new directions to enhance the quality of health care through the profession of nursing. She has been the visionary leader for the NorthEast Regional VA Nursing Alliance, a collaborative effort between two VA healthcare facilities and six academic institutions in the Boston area. It is an initiative to ensure the future of the nursing profession by providing clinical instructors from within the VA healthcare system to assist colleges/universities in meeting the clinical needs of their nursing students. The energy, enthusiasm and vision of this remarkable leader has helped to bring this complex endeavor to fruition.

• AMANDA STEFANCYK, RN, MSN, MBA
Nursing Director
Massachusetts General Hospital

Stefancyk's defining leadership style is one that reflects confidence, courage, intelligence, creativity and a collaborative spirit. In a very short period of time, she established a strong, professionally committed and largely novice staff on a challenging general medical unit. She is currently serving as co-investigator to the organization's participation as a pilot site in the national study Transforming Care At the Bedside (TCAB), sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the American Organization of Nurse Executives. She brings her leadership and previous research experience to this initiative; along with enthusiasm, diligence, and appreciation for the potential opportunities and outcomes that exist. She generates confidence through specific qualities and attributes such as: her ability to motivate and inspire, her inquiring mind and collaborative spirit, her strong commitment to learning and continuous improvement, and her superb oral and written communication.

Clinical Care

• JULIE L. TUTTLE, RN, BSN, BC, CNII
Staff Nurse, Preoperative and Post Anesthesia Care Units and ICUs
Southern New Hampshire Medical Center

Tuttle has demonstrated a passion for nursing and a commitment to improving the quality of care from the moment she started at Southern New Hampshire in 2004. She developed staff education material and worked with the facility's patient educator to develop teaching tools for the patients. She comes to work with a positive attitude, an eagerness to teach, and an energy level that is contagious. Tuttle was seriously injured in a motor vehicle accident during her senior year of nursing school. She was confined to a wheelchair and because she was unable to walk, she was advised to find a less-physical career. But through determination, she regained the use of her legs and was able to complete her nursing degree.

• DIANE TUBMAN, RN, BSN, CPN
Staff Nurse Level III
Children’s Hospital Boston

Tubman is a unique and treasured member of the unit and the hospital for her outstanding dedication and tireless devotion to excellence in patient care. With 17 years of direct care at the bedside, possesses the sixth sense that allows her to detect the most subtle changes in her patients’ status. She has a special talent of developing strong therapeutic relationships with special-needs populations and leaves no stone unturned to meet the physical, emotional, social, and ongoing care planning needs of patients. She leads mock codes, served as a Magnet leader, chairs the unit regulatory and performance Improvement groups, and serves as a facilitator of the peer review program. She recently developed a unit Clinical Advancement Facilitation Committee that guides Level I staff nurses through the clinical advancement process and has mentored several staff in their promotion. She participates in the SCOOP program, which encourages high school students to learn about nursing through lectures, hospital tours, and events.

• SUE ELLEN JEWELL, RNC, ONC
Staff Nurse, Medical Surgical/Orthopedics
Wentworth-Douglass Hospital

Jewell has continuously demonstrated self-motivation in all her professional activities. The hospital identified skin assessment and pressure ulcer prevention as an area in which the quality of our care could be improved. She assumed the project with enthusiasm and expertise, and now is the unit representative on the Skin Integrity Taskforce. She independently collaborated with her colleagues in the Wound Healing Institute, gaining expertise in assessment, wound staging, and treatment. She proposed and initiated daily skin rounds on a 23- bed medical surgical unit. She also has engaged and empowered her colleagues to assist with skin rounds. She is more than willing to share her ideas and expertise with peers, including new graduates.

• GRACE ANN GOOD, APRN, BC
Nurse Practitioner/Team Leader, Medical Team 5
Massachusetts General Hospital

Good has a unique ability to establish a level of trust and cooperation with her patients that facilitates mutually agreed upon and improved outcomes. The impact of her direct clinical care as well as the broader clinical impact she has had though systems innovations are profound. Most notably, four years ago, the hospital began to face growing and serious capacity concerns. Good proposed creating a multi-disciplinary team to include a physician, case manager, and social worker that would specialize in highly customized care approaches. Quantitatively, length of stay in acute care has been reduced as safe patient transitions to non-acute settings have been more successfully facilitated. Ultimately this has resulted in improved patient care and access to needed and appropriate level care across the continuum.

• STEPHANIE CLAIRE ENNIS, BSN, MSN, APRN-BC
VAD Coordinator
Massachusetts General Hospital

Ennis was nominated by a patient who shared this story: "In 2006, I was placed on a clinical trial with a left ventricular assist device that was implanted in me to maintain me and make me well until I received my new heart. ... In the five weeks after my surgery, I was aware of her presence each day — monitoring the device and working with the team to make sure that it was performing optimally for my heart function. ... Upon leaving the ICU, she set goals for my release and then championed the drive to get me home in two to three weeks. During that time, she developed her plan to ensure that I was well trained in the understanding and use of my device and that my family was well-trained to care for me both in understanding and training of the device and the entire process of dressing changes that would need to be done once I was home. ... Once I was at home, she called my house every day to check on me for the first month. ... She raised the bar in patient service ... to make sure that we could live our lives as fully as possible. She gave us care, hope and support. She turned my view of nursing outpatient care and service upside down."

Community Service

• KATHLEEN G. SAVAGE, MSN, ARNP, BC, A/GNP
Geriatric Nurse Practitioner
Elder Service Plan of the North Shore

Savage has changed the lives of many for Special Olympics athletes. In 2006, she accompanied the athletes to the first national games in Iowa, and has remained an active medical volunteer in the MS Walk for six years. During that time, she has developed a following of walkers who seek her out for blister care. She received a Heroes Among Us Award from the Boston Celtics in 2007 for her work with Special Olympics.

• GAIL WASIEWSKI, RN, CEN
EMS Coordinator
Wentworth-Douglass Hospital

Wasiewski works directly with the hospital education department to design, develop, coordinate, and implement hospital-wide and site-specific training regarding the WDH Emergency Management Plan. She orchestrates the execution of a minimum of two hospital-wide Emergency Preparedness Drills per year, one of which must include a coordinated response with local emergency services.

• CHERYL D. KANE, RN, M.ED, BSN
Director of Development/Staff Nurse
Boston Health Care for Homeless Program

For more than 10 years, Kane has worked as a nurse at various BHCHP program sites, most often with the Street Team. In this role, she delivers nursing care on the city’s streets, alley ways, soup kitchens, and other non-traditional settings. Her patients are most often chronically homeless, very vulnerable adults with long-term mental illness and substance abuse problems. Her success ensures that the 11,000 patients of Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program will continue to receive quality health care in a place that is designed to meet their unique and growing needs.

• SUSAN E. POWERS, RN, MS
Associate Director, Community Health Institute
Winchester Hospital

Powers is responsible for generating new health improvement programs such as the Community and Hospital Asthma Management Program and alternative therapies such as acupuncture. She has a community presence, and is known to be a go-to person for all questions for and help in navigating the healthcare system. To bolster her credibility, she returned to school for her BS, and MS, all the while working full time and rearing her family.

• LIN-TI CHANG, RN-BC, MSN, ANP-BC, CCRN
Staff Specialist
Massachusetts General Hospital

Countless lives have been touched by Chang's compassion, empathy, and dedication to improving the health status of those in greatest need. She has played a vital role in the International Medical-Surgical Response Team (IMSuRT)-East, a volunteer disaster team, serving as both staff and supervising nurse. For nearly two decades, she has served both as a nurse consultant and as a resident project coordinator/nurse educator in a collaborative exchange between her own academic medical institution and Project HOPE in the Peoples Republic of China. Her first IMSuRT deployment followed the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers in New York City; in October 2001 postal workers were exposed to anthrax, and she assisted in their care and treatment. Two major deployments followed. Super-typhoon Pongsona struck the island of Guam in December 2002. Walls collapsed at Guam Memorial Hospital forcing the closure of several patient care units. In December 2003, a magnitude 6.6 earthquake destroyed 70% of the city of Bam, Iran, including its two hospitals. Chang was part of an 84-member medical team transported by Air Force cargo plane to assist in the earthquake effort, becoming one of the first Americans to set foot on Iranian soil in more than 25 years.

Management

• PAMELA CARLSON ROSENKRANZ, RN, BSN, M.ED
Nurse Manager, NICU
Boston Medical Center

Rosenkranz initiated a NICU new graduate nurse program to bring new nurses with fresh ideas and enthusiam to the staff. Her presence is always felt in the unit as she involves herself in the daily events. She reaches out to families and offers her support with a remarkable sense of compassion and understanding. She devotes her time and energy to how she can improve the experience of the families and patients in the NICU. One of her favorite things to do at the end of a long, stressful day is to sit and hold one of the NICU infants who might be in need of some cuddling.

• KAREN KEANEY, RN, MHA, BS
Executive Director
Winchester Home Care
Winchester Hospital

Keaney is active in the Massachusetts Organization of Nurse Executives and the Home and HealthCare Association of Massachusetts. She is a strong advocate for where she believes the profession of nursing should be moving. In 2005, she testified at the State House on the proposed mandatory nurse staffing legislation and the impact on home care. She demonstrates her commitment to the Magnet culture by hosting several groups from other hospitals and mentoring them on the journey to Magnet designation.

• JOANNE FUCILE, RN, MSN, CRRN
Vice President of Patient Care Services and Chief Nursing Officer
Spaulding Rehabilitation Network

Fucile has a history of success in management and administrative roles in post-acute care. She has managed clinical operations for oncology and brain injury rehabilitation units and has also opened and overseen a transitional care unit. Her straightforward and cheerful demeanor immediately put her staff at ease. She spends part of nearly every day on the units speaking with all levels of staff, listening to their ideas, and concerns regarding patient care issues.

• JOANNE M. KAUFMAN, RN, MPA, A-CCC
Manager, Case Management
Massachusetts General Hospital

Kaufman has consistently fostered staff growth and development and research efforts. As a result, over the past two years, the number of presentations and poster sessions given by staff both locally and nationally has increased from 0 to 19. She is always front and center organizing and collecting for the department charity gift giving during the holiday season. She has avidly supported the work of a friend who visits Haiti each year to provide health care, by collecting over-the-counter medications and other supplies for her patients.

• ADELE L. KEELEY, RN, MA
Nursing Director
Massachusetts General Hospital

In her role as nursing director, Keeley recently served as a Co-Principal Investigator in a quality demonstration project that developed interventions to promote a change in the way patients who were dying and their families were cared for in the MICU. She is a highly effective and innovative manager of an intensely busy critical care unit who remains passionate about advancing the delivery of patient and family-centered care.

Mentoring

• GAYLE GRAVLIN, RN, EDD, NEA-BC
Associate Chief Nurse, Nursing Education, Research and Professional Development
Lahey Clinic Medical Center

Gravlin is distinguished as a mentor by the level of her personal commitment of time and energy to help others. She accepts others as they are, drawing on each person's strengths. She provides a steady, encouraging, and knowledgeable presence.

• BARBARA C. WALLACE, RN-C, EDD, MPH, MSN, BSN
Associate Chief Nursing Officer
Hallmark Health System Inc.

Wallace is the driving force behind the nursing staff and their drive for excellence in education. She sets her self apart by raising the bar and setting the expectations. She believes that patients will receive the best care possible when nurses utilize evidence based practice. Her focus is on getting nurses to research the evidence and find the tools to get it into everyday practice.

• KATE COLLOPY, RN, PHD
Director of Research
Wentworth-Douglass Hospital

Collopy is a behind-the-scenes leader who is gracious and generous in sharing her team-building talents with staff nurses and nurse leaders alike. She has earned a reputation for hard work, integrity, and a relentless commitment to organizational success. She supports staff nurses in projects designed to help them grow professionally by advancing in our clinical ladder program. No project is too small, no idea unimportant; she always find time for those staff members who seek her help and counsel.

• KERRI TYMAN, RN, BSN
Staff Nurse, Jeremy Knowles Nurse Preceptor Fellow
Massachusetts General Hospital

Tyman brings a unique perspective to her mentoring role as a graduate of the hospitals New Graduate Critical Care Nursing Program, a proactive approach the hospital is taking to address the nursing shortage that particularly impacts the ICU setting. The program pairs experienced nurses with new graduates to help safely fast track the new grad to the ICU bedside in six months versus the traditional two to three years. Tyman is an enthusiastic proponent of the program and a tremendous support to the Micus new graduate nurses. She brings with her an invaluable ability to look at the mentoring experience through the eyes of the mentee.

• DIANE L. CARROLL, RN, PHD, ACNS-BC, FAAN
Yvonne L. Munn Nurse Researcher
Massachusetts General Hospital

Carroll's work in cardiovascular nursing research, the development of a peer coaching program for patients, interventions addressing partners coping with cardiovascular health issues, and research directed toward the identification of risk and reduction in falls, have all provided opportunities for the mentorship of staff and graduate students in advancing a research agenda for the improvement of cost-effective, high-quality, evidenced-based patient care.

Teaching

• MARY JANE M. WILLIAMS, RN, PHD
Chair and Associate Professor
University of Hartford

Williams is a master educator who is a role model not only for her students but also for the faculty. Her understanding of faculty roles extends beyond the classroom and the specific courses she teaches. She is also a powerful voice for the nursing profession on the national level. She has spoken frequently on National Public Radio about the nursing and faculty shortage in the U.S. and offered creative approaches to addressing the looming crisis. She has distinguished herself as a professional, community leader and as an advocate for nursing education and the profession.

• MICHAEL NICKERSON, RN, MS, FNP-BC, CEN, NREMT-P
Professional Development Specialist, Education Department
Exeter Hospital

Only his genuine human caring and willingness to share his knowledge with others surpass Nickerson’s professional experience. He supports the use of simulation in clinical education as a valid and necessary teaching strategy to synthesize knowledge with practice. He believes nurses are expected to have mastery of technology, pharmacology, and pathophysiology and provide empathic, ethical, and therapeutic care to patients and that simulation helps better prepare nurses to meet these challenges.

• MELISSA ANN POLLARD, RN, MS, ARNP, CEN, DNP-C
Professional Development Specialist, Education Department
Exeter Hospital

Pollard's roles as provider and educator provide her learners with a balanced approach when teaching and working as a clinical specialist. She is an adjunct faculty for both nurse practitioner and nursing students and relates well with staff at all levels —new learners as well as those with more advanced critical-thinking skills. She is first and foremost and exceptional practitioner. Her non-threatening and lighthearted teaching style has directly impacted learning by exciting and engaging staff in the sim lab, fostering collaboration, and nurturing peer to peer conversations.

• ANN B. LINDSAY, RN, BSN, CDE
Diabetes Education Program Coordinator
Cambridge Health Alliance

In her 28 years at Cambridge Health Alliance, Lindsay has demonstrated a deeply held belief in the role of the nurse as the educator. She is committed to excellence on a daily basis and an on going passion for diabetes education for patients and staff. She is always willing to take on a new challenge and provides a timely quality product. Her love of challenge is reflected in her love of skiing and ocean kayaking. She invites her colleagues to participate whenever they dare.

• CATHY DANFORTH, RN, MS, CNL
Clinical Nurse Leader
Wentworth-Douglass Hospital

Danforth started the hospital on the journey to provide more patient- and family-centered care. She spearheaded the effort to join the Institute for Healthcare Improvements Transforming Care at the Bedside Initiative. She taught the staff the principles of rapid cycle testing, and demonstrated the effectiveness and stood by as they utilized the method to transform their practice. Her openness to new ideas and her love for nursing is evident in the degree to which she stayed involved with the practice even with promotion to a new role.