Ladies win the lamp

SON faculty shine at Nightingale ceremony

The nursing profession claimed center stage at Mississippi’s 2009 Nightingale Awards ceremony, where the University of Mississippi Medical Center delivered a strong performance with five wins.

The awards spotlighted the Medical Center’s skill in nursing practice and teaching and included top honors for the School of Nursing.

Medical Center nurses who took home awards were Michelle Burnes, nursing workforce specialist, Educator of the Year; Claire Durst, bone marrow transplant unit, Rookie of the Year; and Jan Robinson, orthopedic surgery nurse, Clinical Practice Nurse of the Year. Dr. Jean Walker, professor of nursing and director of the graduate nurse educator track, won for Nursing Faculty of the Year, and the School of Nursing was awarded Nursing School of the Year.

The annual awards ceremony, presented by the Mississippi Nurses Association and the Mississippi Nurses Foundation, took place March 2 at the Jackson Marriott. This was the fourth year of the event, created to celebrate the nursing profession around the state. Walker, who taught Burnes and Durst as students, called it a “nice sweep.”

“Being around a community of scholars and caring people from all disciplines and getting to work with the best of the best is an environment that helps people grow and develop,” Walker said.

Walker spent 20 years working at the G.V. (Sonny) Montgomery VA Medical Center before coming to teach at the Medical Center in 1996. The graduate nurse educator track, which is aimed at teaching nurses how to teach, went online in 2005.

“We’ve got students from all over the state,” she said. “It’s been a great success.”

Durst already was working in the bone marrow transplant unit before graduating from the School of Nursing in 2007. After getting her RN license, she was able to stay with the unit full time.

On the other end of the spectrum, Robinson is a 25-year veteran of the Medical Center.  Robinson said she grew up in the area and came to UMMC right out of college.

“It’s like a family here,” she said.

Robinson, who says she plans to finish out her career here, was one of the first two nurses in the state to become a certified orthopedic nurse.

Burnes was honored for her work in the bone marrow transplant unit. After completing her master’s degree last year (with Walker as her advisor), Burnes transferred to her new position as a nursing workforce specialist. She said she loved teaching, but her new position gives her the chance to be an advocate for nurses.

“We’ve got such superb educators,” she said. “The nursing leadership really gives us a chance to be creative and think outside the box.” In addition to the award winners, Jeanette M. “Jay” Waits, who retired from the School of Nursing, was inducted into the MNA 2009 Hall of Fame.

-Matt Westerfield

2009-03-17 00:00:00 18870