NEW YORK NURSE: June 2007
Elizabeth A. Ayello, a faculty member at Excelsior College School of Nursing, Albany, and senior adviser to the John A. Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing, is the most recent recipient of the National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel (NPUAP) Kosiak Award. The honor is given to individuals who have made significant contributions to the prevention and or management of pressure ulcers through their leadership in research, education, or patient care. NPUAP described Ayello as “instrumental in New Jersey in reducing the number of pressure ulcers statewide through her combined efforts with nurses in all settings.”
Earlier this month, Ayello was the first nurse to co-chair the international World Union of Wound Healing Societies (WUWHS) Congress in Toronto, Canada. A past president of NPUAP, Ayello was the first Nurse of Distinction recognized by the New York State Legislature and is chairperson of the New Jersey Hospital Association (NJHA) initiative, which has reduced pressure ulcers in the state of New Jersey by 30% across care settings.
Elizabeth Anne Mahoney, professor emerita of nursing at The Sage Colleges in Troy and Albany, recently received the prestigious R. Louise McManus Award for outstanding achievement in nursing from the Nursing Education Alumni Association (NEAA) of Teachers College, Columbia University. The award is the NEAA’s highest recognition. At Sage she served as chair of the Department of Nursing and then as a full-time faculty member. She directed the college’s Family Nurse Practitioner Program and participated in the development of the newly approved Doctor of Nursing Science program.
In June, Mahoney also received the District 9 Distinguished Member Award from her district nurses association. She served on the NYSNA Board of Directors as director at large and treasurer, and has been a member of the NYSNA Bylaws Committee. She currently is vice chairperson of the Nurse Educator Functional Practice Unit, a member of the Membership Committee, and part of a strategic planning task force on increasing NYSNA membership. She is a founding member of the NY Capital District Chapter of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care (ANAC).
Jennifer Pletcher, a staff nurse at Canton-Potsdam Hospital, was the winner of a Nurses Week essay contest organized by the New York State Area Health Education Center. Pletcher, a night nurse, wrote a poignant essay titled “The Regular” about the importance and privilege of providing end-of-life care. She described how she was affected by the death of one of her “regular” patients – who was suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease – and how it shaped her thinking about her role and responsibilities in the nursing profession. Pletcher says, “My job demands that I continue to grow as a human being. I continue nursing because of the privilege of being there for someone when they need you the most. I’m grateful for these moments when I can connect to another individual so directly and be of some assistance. Few have that opportunity at all through their lives and I have the privilege of doing it for a living.” The winning essay, which earned Pletcher a $250 prize, can be viewed at www.ahec.buffalo.edu.
NYSNA members were among the winners at the annual awards dinner held by the New York Counties Registered Nurses Association (NYSNA District 13) on May 4. They included Pat Kane, vice president of the NYSNA Delegate Assembly (Jane Delano Distinguished Service Award), Angela Robinson, staff nurse at Montefiore Medical Center (Outstanding Staff Nurse Award), and Marguerite Perinelli, childbirth educator at Staten Island University Hospital North (Presidential Citation). Jane Godden, a 57-year member of the association and a key contributor to the growth of nursing in New York, received the Special Recognition Award.