Excellence in Nursing 2023 Honorees
8 Outstanding Pittsburgh Nurses
In a recent book, “Taking Care: The Story of Nursing and Its Power to Change Our World,” journalist Sarah DiGregorio writes that nursing is the oldest and most fundamental kind of health care. Nurses are at the bedside of the sickest and most vulnerable among us, day in and day out.
“Nurses in Western Pennsylvania are no different,” says Mary Ellen Glasgow, dean of the Duquesne University School of Nursing. “They have weathered the COVID-19 pandemic and the great resignation with grace and perseverance.”
She’s chairperson of a distinguished panel of health professionals that has selected eight honorees in Pittsburgh Magazine’s eighth annual Excellence in Nursing Awards. The winners — who come from small and large hospitals, a senior center and the C-suite — say they place high value on good communication, empathy and collegiality in order to provide the best health care possible.
They’ve also learned that a nursing career doesn’t always follow a predictable path. When a running accident sidelined Teresa Hagan Thomas as she was about to start her clinical work as an oncology nurse, she found a new opportunity in oncology research. When Sandra Rader began her first nursing job in Indiana, never did she anticipate that she’d work her way up the leadership ladder to become president of UPMC Presbyterian Shadyside.
The latest list also includes 11 honorable mentions in seven specialties, including a school nurse.
About the honorees, Glasgow says: “Thank you for being the translator, healer, advocate and navigator for patients and their families. Pittsburgh appreciates you!”
