Maureen Cooper (center) receives the Nightingale Award for OU Distinguished Alumni.

By Rebecca Wyatt, OU Web Writer

Oakland University’s School of Nursing (SON) hosted the 18^th Annual Nightingale Awards for Nursing on Wednesday, May 10 at the San Marino Club in Troy. The program honored eight award recipients and eight runners up for their dedication to the field of nursing. Rachel Nevada, radio personality and producer at WJR AM 760 served as the evening’s emcee.

The evening was hosted by the SON and the Board of Visitors with the help of presenting sponsor, William Beaumont Hospital; gold sponsor Oakwood Hospital; silver sponsor Henry Ford Health System; and bronze sponsors Kelly Services, Crittenton Hospital Medical Center, St. Joseph Mercy Oakland, Mt. Clemens General Hospital, LaSalle Bank, St. John Health and St. Joseph’s Healthcare.

The ceremony honors nursing professionals and their contributions while raising funds for student scholarships and other department needs.

The awards are given in honor of Florence Nightingale, the Briton who in the mid-1800s created the nursing profession. The Nightingale awards are given for nurses in the areas of administration, advanced nurse practice, research and education, long-term care and rehabilitation, nursing in the community, staff practice and the OU distinguished alumni in nursing.

“Today’s nurses have broken through stereotypes and have had a tremendous impact on the community and the world,” said Linda Thompson Adams, dean of the School of Nursing.

Nightingale Award nominations are sent to health care agencies all over Michigan. All licensed registered nurses working in the state are eligible. The nominations and support letters are sent to a selection committee, which reviews candidates based on achievements, community service and professional organizations. Committee members independently score each of those criteria and the top scoring candidates comprise the winners and runners-up.

Selected from more than 110 nominations, the eight award winners receive a bronze statue of Florence Nightingale, a Nightingale pin and $1,000. Each runner-up receives a plaque, Nightingale pin and a special edition of Nightingale’s book, “Notes on Nursing.”

The Nightingale Awards for Nursing coincide with National Nurses Week and Florence Nightingale’s birthday, May 12, 1820. The awards promote nursing’s essential health care role and the various ways nurses care for America’s citizens.

2006 Nightingale Award Recipients

NURSING ADMINISTRATION
Cynthia Taueg
St. John Health

Taueg is vice president of Community Health and Senior Services for St. John Health. She is seen as an advocate for the poor and those with special needs, addressing areas such as infant mortality, immunizations, pre-natal care and access to health care for the uninsured. Her sincere commitment to urban and community health has been demonstrated time and again.

Taueg has developed a safety network for low-income uninsured with two new St. John Health primary care sites and obtained a partnership with a local Federally Qualified Health Center resulting in a successful capital campaign raising more than $3.5 million. Taueg also developed a program for physician volunteers to address the need for specialty services for the uninsured. To date, more than 400 physicians have volunteered and more than 800 patients have been treated.

Taueg earned a master’s degree in public health from the University of Michigan and is currently a doctoral candidate at Central Michigan University for a Doctorate in Health Administration.

Megan Eagle receives the Nightingale Award for Advanced Nurse Practice.

Eagle has dedicated her career to providing competent and dignified health care to the underserved population. As a family nurse practitioner in the Nurse Managed Centers at the University of Michigan, she has a central role in the coordination and provision of care for underserved population, including the large Latino and Somalian communities in the Ann Arbor area. She is an advocate for patient rights and access to health care, and treats patient and families with respect and compassion.

Eagle has a special interest in the Latino population, having spent time in Peru as an exchange student. She also was a family nurse practitioner in Texas with rural low income patients, worked with a battered women’s shelter, coordinated programs for a Head Start program and school-based nutrition program in Tijuana, Mexico.

At the University of Michigan School of Nursing, Eagle lectures on topics such as health concerns of pregnant Latinas, nurse-managed community partnerships, access to health care resource training and approaches to patients with obesity. She was awarded the Sigma Theta Tan Excellence in Clinical Nursing Practice from the Rho Chapter and serves as the chair of the university’s Faculty Practice Plan Advisory Committee.

EDUCATION AND RESEARCH
Karen Harris
William Beaumont Hostpital — Troy

Harris is a clinical nurse specialist at Beaumont Troy. She is considered the consummate educator by co-workers and peers who believe many of her geatest talents as a nurse lie in the ability to be an innovative and visionary educator. Always sensitive to the needs of others, she has an innate ability to incorporate various learning principles and styles with a fun approach.

Harris created a campaign throughout the hospital to celebrate the vital role that nurses play. She helped create a logo, an ad campaign that included life-size photos of staff members and held a contest to define what makes a Beaumont nurse unique.

Harris also takes an active role in mentoring and assisting student nurses. Whether it’s helping a nursing student with a project, aiding a staff member on a presentation or restructuring some of the aspects of central orientation, Harris never ceases to give her all.

Harris developed a protocol for high-risk obstetric patients call “Maternal Transport Stabilization Guidelines.” She took the program to patients, bringing much of this education to the underserved population. She also secured a grant to assist with educating staff on fetal monitoring. With this grant, Harris was able to provide computerized fetal monitoring care study modules for 110 staff nurses.

LONG TERM CARE/REHABILITATION
Carolyn Gagacki
University Internal Medicine Specialists

Gagacki is a nurse practitioner at University Internal Medical Specialsts on the campus of the Detroit Medical Center. The physicians she works with are thankful that she takes the initiative to keep track of the physicians and their schedules, as well as designates which physicians should do the work.

Gagacki makes it her mission to ensure the nursing home residents get the best care. If a small detail is forgotten, she takes care of it before she leaves or even calls from home to make sure it gets done.

When helping with the geriatric fellows in the nursing home, she ensures they have a full facility tour so that they can better understand the continuum of care. Knowing that not every one is comfortable in a nursing home, she ensures that the fellows are put at ease and see the home as a caring place for people to live when they can no longer care completely for themselves.

Even when she is not on the clock, she donates her personal time and service for those in need by offering in-service training for her fellow nurses. She will also purchase items needed by the residents with her own money, including clothing, food and blankets.

NURSING IN THE COMMUNITY
Stephen Osinski
Henry Ford Home Health Care

Osinski is always at the bedside of those who are in need in the community. He can look past physical traits and socioeconomic status and treat each patient with the warmth and kindness they deserve.

In the late 1980s, when there was a high level of fear and hesitation to treat patients for HIV and AIDS, Osinski went in search of answers. He developed a knowledge base to help eliminate that fear and became an AIDS-certified registered nurse through the HIV/AIDS Nursing Certification Board in 1998. In addition, he organizes an annual collection of hygiene items for the Wellness House and Friends Alliance, as well as raises more than $1,000 each year in pledges for the AIDS Walk in Detroit.

Osinski has a Master of Social Work degree, which helps him in his work with the homeless population. His community support also extends into his volunteer work, which includes the Capuchin Mission Association, Ecology Center in Ann Arbor, Grosse Pointe Animal Adoption Society, Michigan Peace Team, Michigan Pride, Michigan Public Radio, Network Social Justice Lobby and the Triangle Foundation.

OU DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI
Maureen Cooper, RN, MSN, APRN, BC
William Beaumont Hospital — Troy

A clinical nurse specialist in the newly developed Clinical Outcomes Management Department at Beaumont Hospital in Troy, Cooper is responsible for implementing hospital-wide, evidence-based medicine using clinical practice guidelines. She evaluate pertinent literature, creates the content, achieves consensus by all users, educates staff and physicians on its use, leads process improvement teams for planning and implementation and measures success.

Cooper developed the Adult Inpatient Immunization Assessment for influenza and pneumonia, a process and screening tool for inpatient admissions. She collaborated with quality management, pharmacy, nursing and infection control to implement this new procedure and also automated the system through the hospital’s electronic record system.

Cooper is an innovator and constantly strives to educate herself in many different aspects of nursing, as well as sharing that knowledge with others. She published a chapter in an Orthopedic text book and has presented on topics to local community groups. She is a member of several professional organizations and is the past-president of the local chapter of the National Association of Orthopedic Nurses.

STAFF PRACTICE
Angela Maynard
William Beaumont Hospital — Troy

Maynard, a radiation oncology nurse, is a master at celebrating life, even in the most seemly dire of circumstances. She always seems to know just what her patients need — a hug, a joke, a smile — to keep their spirits up during their treatment. Knowing the diagnosis of cancer is extremely difficult, she actively involves other staff members as well as patients and staff.

Maynard also co-founded the Celebration of Life picnic more than 19 years ago held on National Cancer Survivor’s Day each June. The first picnic hosted 35 patients and family members and has since grown to more than 850 patients, family members, staff and volunteers in 2005.

Maynard advocates for her patients by helping them work with their insurance companies to get their medications covered. She doesn’t simply do the work for them, but empowers them to act on their own behalf.

The well-being of her oncology patients has given Maynard the ambition to use her extensive clinical knowledge. She has implemented and researched important projects such as participating in a quality of life study for breast cancer patients receiving radiation treatment. She also developed a pain diary for the radiation oncology patients, an audit tool to screen radiation patients for satisfaction and pain control, and a staff program where controversial and ethical problems are presented and openly discussed.

STAFF PRACTICE
Mary White
Henry Ford Medical Center

As a staff nurse in Pulmonary and Gynocology, White sets the highest expectations for not only herself, but the same from the staff that works with her.

She is an advocate of patients and their families, doing whatever is necessary to ensure a patient’s success. Her commitment to those in need extends to others, including those patients in the pulmonary clinic who are chronically ill and have limited resources. White has spent countless hours at home, researching programs and compiling information on prescription assistance program and additional aid resources for families.

Also a cutting-edge thinker, White accepted the challenge to create a first-class endoscopy suite in the gastroenterology department. She moved from internal medicine to research, design and develop and open the department within six months of Henry Ford’s decision to expand. This department ultimately grew from one doctor to three in just three years.

For more information on the awards and OU’s nursing program, visit the School of Nursing Web site, call (248) 370-4253 or e-mail nrsinfo@oakland.edu.