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| Super Star in Community
Nursing Award |
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VNA Foundation grants its 2007
Super Star in Community Nursing Award
to raise awareness of community health nursing |
The VNA Foundation has announced its sixth annual Super Star in Community Nursing Award. Sally H. Lemke, RNC, MS, NP, was chosen as the winner of the 2007 VNA Foundation Super Star in Community Nursing Award and recipient of a $25,000 unrestricted cash award. VNA also awarded $2,000 each to five finalists.
The Super Star in Community Nursing Award is intended to recognize and celebrate the service that Public Health/Community Health nurses provide. By raising awareness of the value of nursing in the community and acknowledging outstanding nurses, it hopes to attract young people to the profession and contribute to efforts to decrease the nursing shortage. |
Also, see information, nomination
forms
and to read about our past winners: 2006 | 2005 | 2004 |
2003 | 2002
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| About
the Award |
“As growing numbers of elderly Americans require health
care services, and as more underinsured families and children
turn to community-based health services and clinics, we want
to highlight the importance of community health nursing,”
said DiLeonardi. “By promoting this award and the dedicated
individuals being honored, we hope to appeal to young people
and encourage them to consider public health nursing as a career
choice.”
Hundreds of thousands of nursing positions are unfilled today and that number is expected to skyrocket in the coming years as 78 million aging Baby Boomers begin placing unprecedented demands on America's health care system. The nurse staffing
problem is today a major factor in emergency department overcrowding,
cancellation of elective surgeries, discontinuation of clinical
services, and the limited ability of the health system to respond
to any mass casualty incident. In addition, 90 percent of nursing
homes report an insufficient number of nurses to provide even
the most basic of care, and some home health agencies are being
forced to refuse new admissions. While there are currently shortages
of other health care personnel, nurses are the primary source
of care and support for patients at the most vulnerable points
in their lives. Nearly every person's health care experience
involves a registered nurse. Birth and death, and all the various
forms of care in between, are attended by the knowledge, support
and comfort of nurses.
In early June 2007, Lemke and five finalists were chosen by an all-volunteer, independent panel of community health experts, including longtime physician, public health activist and radio commentator Quentin Young, M.D.; Ruth Slaughter, Director of Public Health Nursing at the Chicago Department of Public Health; and last year's "super star" award winner Cat Quinn, among others.
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