Three nurses from Yale were honored with Nightingale Awards for Excellence in Nursing, at the annual award ceremony on May 3 in New Haven. Dr. Monica Ordway, assistant professor of nursing; Dr. Andrée de Lisser, lecturer in the psychiatric and mental health nurse practitioner specialty; and Jennifer Espinoza, MSN’19, who was a recipient of the student scholarship award.
They were each individually recognized and invited on stage to receive a certificate of recognition, a Nightingale insignia lapel pin, and a commemorative gift. A nurse can only be nominated once in their lifetime for this award.
The program was developed in 2001 out of a desire to celebrate and elevate the nursing profession. As a nursing organization with more than a century of service, the Visiting Nurse Association of South Central Connecticut (VNA South Central) took the lead in creating the award ceremony. The Nightingale vision was quickly embraced by the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, Yale-New Haven Hospital and The Hospital of Saint Raphael, whose financial support brought the idea to fruition.
In 2003, the program grew to include concurrent galas in the Hartford, Norwich-New London, and Stamford regions, as well as the original program in New Haven. The Nightingale Awards for Excellence in Nursing is open and inclusive of all health care settings—hospitals, home health care, health centers, schools, health departments, long-term care, nursing schools, medical practices and more - all are warmly invited to participate. RNs and LPNs (full or part-time) who demonstrate excellence may be considered for recognition if they are involved in clinical practice, leadership, and/or education.