Nursing

News spotlight: HCPro announces 2011 Nursing Image Award winners

Nurse Leader Weekly, December 5, 2011

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This year's search for nurse leaders and staff who have helped elevate the image of nursing is over, and two winners, representing exemplary leadership and clinical skill have been announced.

HCPro's 2011 Image of Nursing Awards honor nurses whose leadership, teamwork, or clinical expertise embodies an image of nursing excellence and contributes to improving patient care, quality outcomes, nurse satisfaction, and the healthcare environment.

Image of Nursing in Leadership: This year's winner is Tracy Williams, RN, DNP, senior vice president and system CNO for Norton Healthcare in Louisville, KY. Williams is responsible for the nursing care provided in 1,400 beds across the Norton Healthcare system and she oversaw the transformation of this system to a patient- and family-centered care philosophy.

"What struck us about Tracy was her action-oriented leadership," says Elizabeth Petersen, associate editorial director, HCPro, Inc., and member of the judging panel. "She's created real, measurable change in her organization and she seems to have found that wonderful balance between practical and visionary management."

As system chief nursing officer, Williams exemplifies positive leadership by creating a vision and sharing that vision with her colleagues. Her staff report that she inspires and ignites passion to attain goals by developing people as she guides and instructs them in new and innovative ways to care for patients.

Image of Nursing in Clinical Practice: This year's winner is Cheryl Lillegraven, a clinical nurse specialist with expertise in neuroscience at Iowa Health Des Moines (IH-DM), in Des Moines.

Lillegraven is the first adult clinical nurse specialist to be hired by IH-DM and she has demonstrated how vital the role is to the neuro unit on which she works. Lillegraven is being recognized for raising the bar for the care of neuro patients, which she does by educating nursing staff and role modeling excellence.

"Cheryl's work as a clinical nurse specialist at IH-DM is pioneering, but it's her unwavering commitment to her patients, her peers, and the profession that is most impressive," says Petersen.

To read more about the winners, click here.

Source: www.StrategiesForNurseManagers.com



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