American Nurses Foundation Announces Honor A Nurse 2014 Nurse of the Year

SILVER SPRING, Md., June 4, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Nurses Foundation (the Foundation), the charitable and philanthropic arm of the American Nurses Association (ANA), today named Jennifer Rhoades, RN, of San Jacinto Methodist Hospital as the Honor A Nurse 2014 Nurse of the Year.  Sponsored exclusively by Wolters Kluwer and its Lippincott Solutions software suite, the Foundation's Honor A Nurse program acknowledges nurses who have made a difference in the lives of others while raising money for the Foundation.

This year, the Foundation's award team poured over hundreds of honorees who were nominated by colleagues, patients and others for doing their job exceptionally well. After much deliberation, the award team selected Rhoades, a fulltime registered nurse (RN) at San Jacinto Methodist Hospital in Baytown, Texas.

Rhoades created the "Teddy Bear Clinic" at San Jacinto Methodist Hospital, which she has run for six years. This annual event helps show children in the surrounding community that the hospital is not such a scary place. Her program also invites outside agencies and emergency medical services to install displays at the clinic to help shore up children's confidence in those groups as well.

"The selection process for our Nurse of the Year is always difficult because there are so many shining examples of nurses who go above and beyond the call of duty," said American Nurses Foundation Chairperson Joyce J. Fitzpatrick, PhD, MBA, RN, FAAN.  "This year, we all found Jennifer Rhoades to be a standout and were especially touched by her many special contributions toward helping young children."

The Honor A Nurse program was created by the Foundation to recognize nurses for their extraordinary contributions to health care. The program enables colleagues, friends, family and others to honor and tell the story of a nurse or a group of nurses who has made a positive difference in nursing locally or globally. The funds raised by the Honor A Nurse program are used to support nursing research, scholarships and programs to improve nurses' lives and the nursing profession. Nurses who have been nominated qualify for the Nurse of the Year award.

Lead sponsor Wolters Kluwer, which develops the Lippincott Solutions clinical decision support and professional development software suite, is committed to increasing awareness of the Honor A Nurse program through its longstanding partnership with ANA.

"The Lippincott name has a longstanding connection to nursing and quality, and we're thrilled to have Wolters Kluwer support our Honor A Nurse program," said Marla J. Weston, PhD, RN, FAAN, chief executive officer of the Foundation and ANA. "Our partnership has exceeded our expectations. The team at Wolters Kluwer has generated ideas and projects that have helped us grow the Honor A Nurse program over 800 percent since we started the relationship."

To learn more about the Honor A Nurse program, please visit www.GiveToNursing.org.

About the American Nurses Foundation
The American Nurses Foundation is the charitable and philanthropic arm of the American Nurses Association (ANA), the only full-service professional organization representing the interests of the nation's 3.1 million registered nurses through its constituent and state nurses associations and its organizational affiliates. The Foundation supports programs that transform the nation's health through the power of nursing.

SOURCE American Nurses Association

Related Links

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