MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Eighteen of the 50 nurses selected to receive the West Virginia Center for Nursing’s 2011 Celebrating Nursing Excellence Awards were WVU Healthcare employees.
The Center for Nursing’s board of directors established award criteria in six areas of nursing, including clinical care, advanced practice, nursing education, nursing leadership, specialty nursing and nursing staff education. Awards were presented in four categories of excellence: leadership, staff education, advanced practice and clinical practice.
Among those recognized for excellence in nursing leadership:
• Mary Ann Crowder, R.N., a graduate of the WVU School of Nursing, is the lead nurse in the endoscopy unit.
• Rhonda Hamilton, R.N., B.S.N., is a nurse manager in orthopaedics and plastic surgery. She is a 1996 graduate of Waynesburg College.
• Lisa Hern, R.N., B.S.N., is a nurse manager in the cardiothoracic and coronary care intensive care units. She is a 1998 magna cum laude graduate of Salem College.
• Holly Mattingly, R.N., B.S.N., M.B.A., is a nurse manager in the neurosciences unit. Mattingly received her bachelor’s degree from Capital University and master’s degree from Waynesburg University in 2007.
• Lori Pride, R.N., B.S.N., M.B.A., is a nurse manager in the cardiac care step-down unit. Pride graduated with a bachelor’s degree from the WVU School of Nursing and earned her master’s degree at Waynesburg University in 2010.
• Paula Sexton, R.N., B.S.N., is a perioperative lead R.N. with the Ruby Day Surgery Center’s prep and recovery units. Sexton is also an operating room staff nurse. She is a 1996 graduate of the WVU School of Nursing and a WVU Healthcare Charge Nurse University (CNU) graduate. Sexton is also a WVU Healthcare CNU master’s program participant.
• Jacqueline Sions, R.N., M.S.N., N.E.-B.C., C.N.O.R., is an operating room manager. Sions has acquired an American Nurses Credentialing Center certification as a board certified nursing executive. She received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in nursing and certificate of healthcare administration from WVU.
The following nurses were recognized for excellence in clinical practice:
• Mandy Fluharty, R.N., B.S.N., C.P.N., is a charge nurse at WVU Children’s Hospital. She is a 1999 graduate of the School of Nursing at Arizona State University.
• Georgiana Grove, R.N., B.S.N., is an operating room staff nurse who works mostly with cardiovascular surgeons. She graduated from the WVU School of Nursing in 2001.
• Katherine Hall, R.N., B.S.N., O.N.C., is a clinical preceptor in the orthopaedics unit. Hall received her nursing degree from WVU in 2008.
• Regina Hanzley, R.N., B.S.N., is a nurse in the psychiatric intensive care unit at WVU Healthcare’s Chestnut Ridge Center. Hanzley received both her associate’s and bachelor’s degrees from Penn State University, Fayette Campus.
• Tena Huffman, R.N., is a nurse in the cardiac care step-down unit.
• Marcia Hughes, R.N.C., O.B., is a charge nurse and is certified in inpatient obstetrics. She is also a basic life support and neonatal resuscitation program instructor. She received her associate’s degree from Fairmont State University in 1991.
• Connie Sanschagrin, R.N., O.C.N., is a clinical preceptor in oncology services. She is a 1993 graduate of Fairmont State University and is currently pursuing her bachelor’s in nursing at WVU.
• Carla Sellaro, R.N., is a nurse in the Ruby Day Surgery Center.
• Roberta Wozniak, R.N., B.C., is a charge and staff nurse in the Jon Michael Moore Trauma Center, where she has worked for 24 years. Wozniak is a 1988 graduate of the Uniontown Hospital School of Nursing. She is currently enrolled in the accelerated baccalaureate program at Penn State University, Fayette Campus.
Among those honored for excellence in advanced practice:
• Toni Dichiacchio, M.S.N., F.N.P., C.E.N., B.C., is a family nurse practitioner in the preadmission unit doing anesthesia consultations. Dichiacchio also works as a nurse practitioner at Preston Healthcare Services, a rural healthcare clinic. She received her Bachelor of Science in accounting and economics at Shepherd College in 1992. In 2008, she received her associate’s degree in nursing at Indian River College. Dichiacchio received her Master of Science in nursing degree from Florida Atlantic University in 2008. She is currently pursuing her Doctor of Nurse Practice degree at WVU.
For excellence in staff education:
• Tiffany Miller, R.N., B.S.N., C.C.R.N., is a clinical preceptor in the pediatric intensive care unit at WVU Children’s Hospital. Miller is a 2003 graduate of Waynesburg University.
The nurses were recognized at the Center’s annual gala, which was held Oct. 8 in Charleston.
