Nightingale award recipients exhibit leadership, courage, compassion

The University of Cincinnati College of Nursing is proud to recognize nurses in the Greater Cincinnati region with the 29th Annual Florence Nightingale Awards for Excellence in Nursing. The seven professionals honored this year have met patients where they are, worked selflessly and courageously to improve health outcomes and treated the patients they serve and the teams they lead with courage and compassion under every circumstance.

Health is inextricably linked to the social, economic, environmental, political and cultural forces that shape the world around us. Data shows that the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age – known as the social determinants of health – combine to affect the health of individuals and communities, creating long-standing inequities. This past year, the COVID-19 pandemic exposed a new level of health care disparity, whereby racial and ethnic minority groups are at increased risk of illness and death from the virus.

The pandemic also reinforced nurses' role as the backbone and frontline of health care. In hospitals, medical offices, clinics and communities, nurses are the primary and, in some areas, the only health care providers and educators. Often, they must determine whether a language barrier, communication, or literacy issue could affect a patient’s understanding of instructions; whether cultural behaviors or traditions could affect compliance; whether costs of medication or services make treatment difficult or impossible; or whether a patient’s family situation could affect his or her health outcome.

Now, with COVID-19 as an added factor, nurses continue to perform these assessments and more, as they face additional challenges. Risk of illness, long hours and family constraints, amid rapidly changing environments and protocol, have made nurses' efforts even more deserving of recognition.

Individual Category:

• Felicia Beckham, The Health Experiences
• Jill Jewell, The Christ Hospital Health Network
• Lindsey Justice, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
• Brittni O'Leary, TriHealth
• Andrea Owens, St. Elizabeth Healthcare
• Imani Rugless, University of Cincinnati Medical Center

Interprofessional Team-Leader Category:

• Jenn Hall, TriHealth Center for Rape and Emergency Services (CARES)

This year's award recipients were chosen from more than 130 nominations of nurses in the Greater Cincinnati region.

• Learn more about this year's recipients.
• View a full list of nominees.

Top image: Recipients of the 2019 team award at the 27th Annual
Florence Nightingale Awards for Excellence in Nursing celebration