VA Nurses Awarded for Excellence During National Nurses Week

Nurses Week focused on acknowledging the hard work, accomplishments and innovations of the nation’s 2.6 million registered nurses who help to maintain the health of millions of patients. Three VA Maryland Health Care System employees—one registered nurse and two licensed practical nurses—are recipients of the local level VA Secretary's Awards in Nursing Excellence, VA’s top award. Candidates are nominated by their colleagues for outstanding service to veterans and demonstrate excellence and the highest level of dedication to their profession. Dozens of nurses from throughout the health care system were recognized with Nightingale Awards, the highest international distinction a nurse can achieve for "exceptional courage and devotion to the wounded, sick or disabled or to civilian victims of a conflict or disaster" or "exemplary services or a creative and pioneering spirit in the areas of public health.”

“I thank all of our nurses who undertake our mission of providing safe, quality, and compassionate care to our veteran patients,” said Jonathan R. Eckman, P.E., Director of the VA Maryland Health Care System. “Our nurses work hard to promote health, prevent disease, and help our veterans thrive.”

VA nurses have been widely recognized for their instrumental work in initiating, developing, implementing, and monitoring the practices and policies that have made VA one of the world’s foremost authorities in patient safety and quality outcomes, evidenced by performance measures – an exceptional achievement by any assessment. The Nursing Service at the VA Maryland Health Care System is the largest service throughout the system, providing direct patient care and administrative, educational, and research investigative support.

The VA Maryland Health Care System local level VA Secretary’s Award for Excellence in Nursing awardees includes two registered nurses: Jared Colon Aviles, Helen Hart, and one licensed practical nurse Ms. Cecelia Kai. 

• Jared Colon Aviles, a licensed practical nurse assigned to the Eastern Baltimore County VA Outpatient Clinic, has introduced several initiatives designed to improve patient care. One of many examples is her collaboration with the primary care patient aligned care team RNs to reengage patients with diabetes mellitus who had not undergone a hemoglobin A1C test in the preceding year. By contacting patients for nurse visits, she alleviated the strain on the RNs and guaranteed that patients with unmanaged or undiagnosed diabetes could be treated and monitored. 
• Helen Hart, a registered nurse, serves as the nurse educator in Behavior Health at the Perry Point and Baltimore VA Medical Centers. She has become an influential figure, a driving force for transformation, and a stalwart advocate for nurses to achieve their full potential by mentoring them in education and quality standards. In addition to her substantive work as a nurse educator, Hart has volunteered as the facilities’ Prevention and Management of Disruptive Behavior (PMDB) trainer, ensuring that the mandated training in PMDB was completed within 90 days of the new nurses start dates. She collaborates with nursing and administrative colleagues to improve an array of processes designed to manage the care and treatment of chronic issues, such as reducing harm by identifying and working with patients on home oxygen who continue to smoke.
• Cecelia Kai, a restorative nurse, dedicates herself to caring for patients in long term care at the Perry Point and Loch Raven VA Medical Centers. She launched an education and training initiative at the Loch Raven campus for registered, licensed practical, and certified nursing assistants on proper footcare in the elderly. She oversaw foot inspections and incorporated this practice into standard care. Her effort to improve foot care especially in the most at-risk and vulnerable patients positively impacted the wound care nursing team. She collaborates within the unit to discover, assess, and address care-related issues. Following the success of the foot care initiative at the VA Maryland Health Care System, she presented the practice innovation to nurses at the Washington, DC VA Medical Center during its Geriatrics and Extended Care meeting.  Kai consistently demonstrates service excellence by fostering collaboration, ensuring patient safety, and implementing evidence-based practices.  

“I am deeply proud of these awardees and of all the nurses who serve veterans throughout VA Maryland Health Care System,” said Diana Choi, associated director for Patient Care Services/Chief Nurse Executive for the health care system. “Our dedicated nurses ensure that veterans receive the best possible care and that our staff works in the best possible health care system.”

Established in 1984, the VA Secretary's Awards in Nursing Excellence program annually honors one VA medical center director, nurse executive, registered nurse in a staff nurse role and one in a non-staff nurse role, i.e. advanced practice nurse, nurse manager, instructor, etc., a licensed practical nurse/licensed vocational nurse, and a nursing assistant, actively engaged in the care of patients at a VA medical center. The recipients' contributions to the care of patients in any VA health care setting are patient-driven and demonstrate such excellence as to merit recognition from peers. This award is given only once to an individual.

To report on this story, please contact Rosalia Scalia via e-mail at rosalia.scalia@va.gov ,via office at (410) 605-7464,  or by cell at 410.736.8444.