Honoring BWH Nurses- BWH Bulletin - For and about the People of Brigham and Women's Hospital
Honoring BWH Nurses- BWH Bulletin - For and about the People of Brigham and Women's Hospital
Skip to contents
May 22, 2000
Browse the archive
Current issue
In This Issue:
BWPO Takes Shape
Hospital Reimbursements
Pike Notes
JCAHO Mock Survey
Domestic Violence Awareness
The New England Journal of Medicine
CIMIT
Honoring BWH Nurses
At the top of NIH research funding
When I was eight years old, my grandmother was a patient at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital,” said Yolanda “Yoly” Harmuth, RN, OCN, to a hushed crowd of colleagues at the annual BWH gala Nursing Recognition Dinner. “Through wide eyes, I learned of the compassion of nursing and pledged to return to the Brigham.” More than 500 nurses packed the room on May 17, for the third annual dinner and fourth annual awards ceremony at the Westin Hotel in Waltham to recognize Harmuth and other recipients of various nursing awards—including the Mary S. Fay Essence of Nursing Award and the Mary S. Fay Enrichment Award—as well as to honor all BWH nurses, who strive to give the highest quality of compassionate care to their patients every day. “This dinner is being held in your honor, with the intent of celebrating your ongoing contributions and achievements,” Mary S. Fay, RN, MS, executive director, Center for Excellence in Nursing Practice, addressed the nurses during the dinner. “You are an essential part of the patient care team, and tonight was the hospital’s way of saying, ‘Thank you for all you do.’ You truly make a difference to us, and to our patients and their families.” Harmuth was this year’s winner of the Essence of Nursing Award. The three groups of winners of the first annual Enrichment Award were William T. Briggs, RN, and Nicki Gilboy, RN, both of Emergency Services; Maureen Allen, RN, BSN, and Kathleen M. Howard, RN, BSN, both of the Neonatal ICU; and Gabriele Harrison, RN, also of the NICU. The vision and understanding of Estrellita and Yousuf Karsh recently led them to create the Mary S. Fay Enrichment Award, an annual grant meant to support projects conducted by BWH nurses through the Center for Excellence in Nursing Practice. Thanks to the generosity of Marshall Wolf, MD, vice chairman for Medical Education, the award will be able to annually assist three projects instead of one. “Nursing is the world’s most hands-on profession, combining, as it does, expertise, concern and compassion for the patients,” says Mrs. Karsh, a medical writer and historian who recalls with great appreciation the kindness and support given to her and her husband by BWH nurses from throughout the hospital. The Karshes chose to name their award after Fay, who they felt exemplified the highest standard of nursing care. Speakers at the gala dinner included Fay; Jeffrey Otten, president, BWH; David Sugarbaker, MD, executive vice chairman, Surgery; Anne E. Belcher, PhD, RN; Estrellita Karsh, friend of Nursing; and Nancy Kruger, vice president of Patient Care Services and Chief Nursing Officer.