Texas County Memorial Hospital selected the 2014 nurse and certified nurse assistant of the year last week.
Joanne Bradshaw, of Mountain Grove, was named the nurse of the year and was announced as the CNA of the year. Each award recipient received $250 cash, a plaque, fresh flowers and $25 gift certificate to Scrubs and Beyond.
Bradshaw, a licensed practice nurse in the TCMH medical surgical department, has been employed 21 years at the hospital.
“Joanne is a longtime med surg night nurse,” said Doretta Todd-Willis, TCMH chief nursing officer. “She has trained the majority of nurses that work at TCMH.”
Bradshaw is known a “Mama Joanne” because she takes others under her wing.
“The nursing staff goes to Joanne for guidance,” Todd-Willis said. “She has exceptional nursing skills and knowledge. She is a very compassionate toward her patients and strong patient advocate.”
Myrtle Brown is a certified nurse assistant at Home Health of the Ozarks. She has worked 11 years at TCMH.
“All of the patients love Myrtle,” said Courtney Owens, nurse manager at TCMH. “The in-home patients that have had Myrtle request that she come back and care for them.”
Owens said Brown was dependable and a hard worker.
“Myrtle is so dependable that she flies under the radar,” Owens said. “You never hear anything negative about her job performance, and you know that she’s doing her job whenever or wherever she’s needed.”
TCMH nurses were nominated by hospital managers, physicians and fellow staff members for the annual nurse of the year award. The TCMH nurse managers chose Bradshaw and Brown as the 2014 nursing honorees. TCMH also recognized each nominee with a small gift.
Also during the week, a mandatory nursing skills lab was provided for the nursing staff. Eleven stations provided education — some of which was hands on — on topics such as blood transfusion, wound assessment, ostomy care, customer service and nursing policies.
Cox College of Nursing provided information to staff interested in pursing additional education in the nursing field. Scrubs and Beyond of West Plains allowed nurses and other employees the opportunity to shop for uniforms during the day.
On Friday, breakfast or lunch was served to all members of the TCMH nursing staff.
TCMH employs 110 nurses and 26 CNAs. The nurses and their assistants work in many departments of the hospital — medical surgical, obstetrics, emergency room, surgery, intensive care, home health, hospice and clinics.