Hackensack Meridian Mountainside Medical Center Celebrates National Nurses Week
Mountainside nursing leaders from left to right: Michelle Rombough, R.N., director of Emergency Services; Patricia Delgrosso, R.N., director of Surgical Services; Lisa Reid-Vannoy, R.N., director of the 4th Floor; Kelli Hanzo, R.N., director of Bariatric Services; Dell Oliver, R.N., chief nursing officer; Rachel Thomas, R.N., director of Dialysis; A.J. Hutchinson, R.N., manager of Emergency Services; Laura Habel, R.N. director of Clinical Operations.
National Nurses Week begins on May 6 and lasts through May 12, the birthday of the founder of modern nursing, Florence Nightingale. This annual celebration acknowledges the work nurses do for others and provides an opportunity to thank them for the work they do each day.
Last year, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared 2020 the Year of the Nurse. The American Nurses Association (ANA) joins WHO in extending the Year of the Nurse into 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Our nursing staff was met with unprecedented challenges at the height of the pandemic,” says Dell Oliver, Chief Nursing Officer at Mountainside Medical Center. “Through it all they managed to stay resilient, focus on quality care and how to best take care of their patients and families, their peers and themselves while powering through so much unpredictability.”
To honor the nursing staff, Mountainside Medical Center participates in an annual Nursing Excellence Awards program, funded by Partners for Health Foundation. Nine awards are presented annually in recognition of nurses in the areas of: Medical/Surgical; Emergency Services; Surgical Services; Critical Care; Obstetrics/Gynecology, Geriatrics, Outpatient Care, Dialysis, Wound Care, Cardiac Catheterization Lab, Bariatric Medicine, Radiology Department, and Outpatient Care. Winners will be celebrated at a ceremony on May 27, 2021.
