T
The Nursing Excellence Awards
he Nursing Excellence Awards program provides awards
to nurses working in Bucks and Montgomery County
communities who have been nominated by their colleagues. These
awards are intended to recognize those nurses who have provided
extraordinary service to patients, families, and our community.
Fred and Nancy Allegrezza established the Nurse Laureate
awards program at North Penn Hospital in 2001. Nancy, who
worked as a nurse in the cardiac rehabilitation department,
wanted to do something to celebrate the loyalty and hard work
of the nurses at the hospital and raise the awareness of the value
of nursing in the community.
Shortly after the establishment of the awards program, the
North Penn Community Health Foundation became the steward
of the awards program until 2008. Through a grant made by
the Foundation, Gwynedd Mercy University was then selected to
manage the Nursing Excellence Awards Program.
This year, four nurses spanning a multitude of specialties were
honored.
Christine Passarelli
Christine is a Cardiac Therapist and Registered Nurse at
Doylestown Hospital. Christine developed and implemented
an Early Heart Failure program, playing a major role in
implementing low level exercise program so heart failure
patients can start within a couple of weeks of being discharged
from the hospital versus waiting six weeks.
Christine teaches holistic interventions to cardiac rehabilitation
staff and patients to improve wellness, decrease stress, and
build resiliency.
Jamie Dugan
Jamie is a charge nurse on surgical unit at Einstein
Montgomery Medical Center. Jamie assumes responsibility for
the work flow of a 36-bed unit and assists other staff with issues
or concerns that may happen during their shift. In addition,
Jamie has taken the role of clinical instructor for LaSalle
University. His contributions to the community involve work
with St. Genevieve’s School Health Programs and Drug and
Alcohol Programs.
Neva Heron
Neva is a charge nurse on a Med/Surg Oncology/Hospice unit at
Einstein Montgomery Medical Center (EMCM). Neva is one of
the first RNs hired to open EMCM where she volunteered to be
the Super User for EMCM’s award-winning etCO2 monitoring
of Med/Surg patients. In this role, she has trained staff to
use an Opioid Induced Respiratory Depression assessment to
stratify those patients who are at risk.
Rita Linus
Rita is the Director of Nursing Education and Competency
for Main Line Health, where she has worked for the past
30 years in a variety of positions. Rita embraces and leads
change that stretches capacity and comfort. One example was
her willingness to be the interim nurse leader for the acute
rehabilitation hospital. Rita took on this team and listened
to their concerns and in less than 90 days, she was able to
modify schedules to provide more consistent coverage, hire new
staff, and advocate to get a bonus program in place to provide
stability with prescheduled additional shifts.
(L. to R.) Nancy Allegrezza, Rita Linus, Christine Passarelli, Neva Heron, Jamie Dugan, and Fred Allegrezza
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PRESIDENT’S REPORT