Tim Glidden, CRNA and director of nurse anesthesia, received the first-ever 2018 APRN/PA Excellence Award during a leadership meeting on Oct. 18.
The peer-nominated excellence award honors one Physician’s Assistant and one Advanced Practice Registered Nurse who meet the nomination criteria, which include living our ITEACH values and serving as a role model for others. The inaugural winners were Wally Bussey, physician assistant, who works in Cardiothoracic Surgery, and Glidden.
“The cool thing about this award is that’s it’s our own,” says Risa Zimmerman, director, Office of Advanced Practice Providers. “We can sometimes be in our own little world. This is a great way to showcase our extraordinary APPs to the organization.”
Fifty nominations were received in all, with some APPs receiving multiple nominations.
“The biggest highlight for me was to see who was highlighting who,” says Zimmerman. “We had physicians, clinic staff and nursing units submit nominations. It was really exciting.”
One nominator wrote this about Glidden:
“Tim consistently performs the highest quality of work even though it requires a great deal selflessness on his part. Tim is the person who says ‘hi’ to everyone as he is walking down the hallways and holds doors for others. He knows everyone in the work area (EVS, cafeteria, UNMC staff, etc.) and truly is the model of demonstrating we all are a team.”
The award is in memory of Catharine McCollister Wood, a pediatric bone marrow transplant patient, who passed away in 1992 at nearly 3 years old. This is the second award the McCollister Wood family has established. In 1996, they created the Catharine McCollister Wood Award, which is given each year to a registered nurse in pediatrics. The family wanted to expand the reach of their foundation and provided the cash prize for the 2018 APRN/PA Excellence Award. The prize money will be used for professional development.
“Our APPs are a knowledgeable group of professionals and invaluable members of the health care team,” said Harris Frankel, MD, senior vice president and chief medical officer.
The complete version of this story can be found on Nebraska Medicine's news webpage.