May 13, 2005

A decade of progress: MGH salutes nurses during Nurse Recognition Week

"This is a great place to work as a nurse," says Janie Pealer, RN, who has worked in the MGH Renal Unit for two years. She and her colleague, Chris Pacheco, RN, of the Dialysis Unit, have worked at several other Boston area teaching hospitals and in community hospitals during their careers, but they like working at the MGH the best. Pealer and Pacheco, along with many other nurses, celebrated their numerous accomplishments during the 10th annual MGH Nurse Recognition Week, held May 2 through 6.

The celebratory week began May 2 with two seminars that focused on important patient care issues. Susan Edgman-Levitan, executive director of the John D. Stoeckle Center for Primary Care Innovation, spoke about "Strengthening Patient and Family-Centered Care: Strategies that Work." Deborah Washington, RN, MS, director of Diversity for MGH Patient Care Services, spoke about "Health Disparities: Nursing's Voice in Practice."

On May 3, Grace Deveney, RN, (left) and Katie Fallon, RN, (below, middle) gave presentations about their once-in-a-lifetime experiences providing humanitarian aid to disadvantaged populations in the Sudan as fellows with the Thomas S. Durant, MD, Fellowship in Refugee Medicine.

A sometimes-overlooked aspect of nursing — research — was the focus of MGH Nursing Research Day May 4 as scientific posters were displayed throughout the hospital. Two scientific sessions were presented by Mary Lou Kelleher, RN, MS, of MassGeneral Hospital for Children, and by Patricia Mian, RN, MSN, and Susan Warchal, RN, of the Emergency Department — all former recipients of the Yvonne L. Munn, RN, MS, Nursing Research Awards. The 11th annual Yvonne L. Munn Nursing Research Lecture was presented by Ruth McCorkle, RN, PhD, director of the Center for Excellence in Chronic Illness Care at the Yale University School of Nursing. The 2005 Yvonne L. Munn award was then presented to MGH nurses Mary E. Larkin, BSN, RN; Alyona Runyans, RN; Whitney Foster, RN; Anastasia Michaelidis, RN; Jennifer O'Neill, RN, BSN; Marion Phipps, RN, MS; and Diane Carroll, RN, PhD.

The commemorative week culminated in a special presentation May 5 by Jeanette Ives Erickson, RN, MS, senior vice president for MGH Patient Care Services and chief nurse, (left) to a standing-room-only crowd of nursing staff in the O'Keeffe Auditorium. "This is a very special time of the year when we have the opportunity to say thank you to all of you for your talents, your wisdom and your many contributions to this institution," she said. "It also gives us a chance to look back on the past 10 years and evaluate the tremendous achievements we have made, as well as look ahead to plan for what we hope to accomplish in the future."