Some 20 Riverside Health System nursing professionals are finalists for the Virginia Nurses Association’s 2017 Leadership Excellence Awards, including two from Riverside Shore Memorial Hospital. The annual awards honor exceptional nurses from across the Commonwealth.
Riverside Shore’s James Abbott, RN, CMSRN and Sarah Shotwell, RN, BSN, IBCLC were both named as Finalists in the Direct Patient Care Leader - Patient Experience category, which recognizes frontline nurse leaders who show a commitment to serving patients with excellence. Nominees in this category demonstrated an impact on the patient experience through compassionate care, effective communication and an attitude focused on exceeding expectations.
Abbott has been a licensed practical nurse for 18 years, and serves as the preceptor for new nurse employees in his unit. He joined the Riverside Shore Memorial Hospital Medical Surgical and Telemetry team in 1991. A member of the Academy of Medical-Surgical Nurses, Abbot is a very active professional at Riverside, participating in multiple hospital committees.
Shotwell joined Riverside in 2009 and serves in the hospital’s Maternal Child Health unit. She also spent more than a year in the role of Operating Room Circulator & Outpatient Surgery nurse. Earlier this year, Shotwell received a Riverside Nightingale Award for advancing and leading the nursing profession and was a finalist for a Virginia March of Dimes Nurse of the Year award.
Eighteen nursing professionals from five other Riverside Health System facilities also earned nominations.
“James and Sarah are wondeRiverside Foundationul assets to our nursing team who love what they do and live the Riverside Care Difference every day – treating patients as they would their own family,” said Deborah Brown, MBA, BSN, Nurse Executive for Riverside Shore. “These award nominations are well deserved, and we’re incredibly proud of James, Sarah and our other colleagues in the Riverside system who are also being honored.”
The mission of the Virginia Nurses Association is to promote advocacy and education for registered nurses to advance professional practice and influence the delivery of quality care.
The annual Leadership Excellence Awards underscore how a nurse leader enhances the image of professional nursing, provides nursing care with respect for human dignity and the uniqueness of others, and promotes the professional development of self and others by providing outstanding care and responding to challenges with innovative approaches.
Award winners will be honored at the annual Virginia Nurses Foundation Gala in November.