Photo By Gino Mattorano | Col. Allan Boudreaux, Deputy Commander of Nursing for EACH, and Maj. Elaine Kirish,...... read more read more
Evans Army Community Hospital celebrated National Nurses Week May 6-12 to tell the story of military medicine through the lens of nurses working across military health care.
The 2023 Nurses Week theme, “Nurses Make a Difference: Anytime, Anywhere – Always,” honors the unwavering commitment of DHA nurses to their patients, and the value they provide to the unified health care team in accomplishing their medical readiness mission.
Nurses across the Defense Health Agency make a difference every day, serving in leading roles to maintain military health and readiness and effect transformative changes in military medicine, according to DHA leadership.
This year, the EACH Nurses Week committee made military community involvement a key focus of Nurses Week activities.
“We wanted to try something different this year,” said Maj. Hanna Betts, an Army Nurse and Chief, Department of Education at EACH. “We wanted to get the community involved to help celebrate our nurses. Customarily, nursing supervisors may take the time to write notes to thank their staff, but this year, to lighten the load from supervisors, we came up with “Notes for Nurses” and partnered with local schools and scouting groups.”
The Nurses Week committee put together coloring pages that supported Nurses Week and gave them to schools and scouting organizations and asked the children to color the pages and/or write notes to nurses.
“We were not sure what participation would be like, however, they surpassed what we expected,” Betts said. “We received over 500 notes and colored pages from our schools and scout organizations. This allowed us to put a note into all the gift bags we put together for EACH nurses.”
The gift bags were put together by the Nurses Week committee to hand out to all nurses within Evans Army Community Hospital to show appreciation for their hard work and dedication.
“Our nurses were so excited to see hand colored pictures and hand written notes thanking them for the jobs they do,” Betts said. “It was so successful we are already planning to do it again next year!”
Betts said the effort allowed the community and EACH to come together as one unit to say thank you and let the staff know that they are valued and supported.
“The community may not always have the opportunity to thank the staff for what they do, even when they want to,” Betts said. “Events like this give people the chance to communicate their thankfulness and appreciation, while encouraging our staff and letting them know they are supported and appreciated by the community they serve. Kindness goes a long way. Together, we were able to send the message that Nurses Make a Difference – anytime, anywhere, always!”
Col. Allan Boudreaux, Deputy Commander of Nursing for EACH, highlighted the importance of Nurses Week and praised the dedication and commitment of the Nurse Corps.
“Nurses are a vital element to our healthcare delivery,” Boudreaux said. “They are often the first and last faces seen by our patients, ensuring that they are triaged and assessed accordingly, as well as safely educated during disposition. Their breadth of capability ranges from collecting essential history and physicals in primary care, to administering anesthesia with skill and precision.”
Boudreaux says Nurses Week recognizes the thousands of men and women who are dedicated to touching the lives of our nation during their most vulnerable moments.
“The EACH nursing team is by far a group of consummate professionals who compose the heart and soul of our organization,” Boudreaux said. “I truly couldn’t ask for a better team!”
Nurses week activities also included a variety of fun events designed to thank nurses for their efforts, like a mobile photo booth, a trivia night, and a Nurse Olympics event that had to be rescheduled due to weather. Nurses Week culminated with a closing ceremony featuring remarks by Col. (Ret.) Crystal L. House, who is currently the Senior Director, Clinical Quality and Capability Development, for Optum Global Advantage. House spoke about kindness and reminded those in attendance that kindness is woven into all aspects of leadership.
To end the ceremony, EACH Nurse of the year awards were recognized in seven different categories. All awardees were given a certificate and on the spot cash award (civilians) or four day passes (military).
• Advanced Practice Registered Nurse of the Year: Susan Cowell
• Supervisory Registered Nurse of the Year: Kristin Carney
• Military Assigned Personnel Registered Nurse of the Year: Capt. Nicholas Law
• Civilian Registered Nurse of the Year: Alex Haushalter
• Military Licensed Vocational Nurse of the Year: Cpl. Cean Venegas
• Civilian Licensed Professional Nurse of the Year: Linda Josephson
• Civilian Technician of the Year: Slavica Fedor
| Date Taken: | 05.17.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 05.19.2023 11:37 |
| Story ID: | 444946 |
| Location: | FORT CARSON, COLORADO, US |
| Web Views: | 242 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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