Olinda Pruitt Johnson, RN

Good Samaritan Foundation, Houston, hosted its fifth annual Excellence in Nursing Awards Luncheon in September. The event honored nurses who demonstrate a passion for the nursing profession and the desire to excel beyond expectations.

About 125 Houston-area RNs were nominated by their peers for exemplifying excellence in teaching, mentoring, leadership, and service and were recognized as bronze medal nominees. An awards selection committee chaired by Ann Scanlon McGinity, senior vice president of operations and chief nursing executive of The Methodist Hospital, Houston, selected five Gold Award winners and five silver medalists from the nominees in the following categories:

Heather Sharp, RN

Gold Award Winners

Clinical Practice in a Large Hospital — Olinda Pruitt Johnson, RNC, MSN, CNS, Lyndon B. Johnson General Hospital, Houston

Clinical Practice in a Small Hospital — Heather Sharp, RN, BS, Memorial Hermann Northeast Hospital, Humble, Texas

Lucinda Welch, RN

Clinical Practice in Hospice/Home Health Care/Clinic/Other Setting — Lucinda Welch, RN, BSN, Houston Hospice

Nursing Education: Clinician — Michelle Eppers, RN, BSN, Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital, Houston

Nursing Education: Faculty — Huberta Corazon Thiam Cozart, RN, MS, Prairie View (Texas) A&M University College of Nursing

Huberta Corazon Thiam Cozart, RN

Silver Medalists

Clinical Practice in a Large Hospital — Beverley LaMoth, RN, MSN, OCN, The Methodist Hospital

Clinical Practice in a Small Hospital — Holly Avery, RN, BSN, Methodist Willowbrook Hospital

Clinical Practice in a Hospice /Home Health Care/Clinic/Other Setting — Sandy Stacy, RN, Bering Omega Community Services

Michelle Eppers, RN

Nursing Education: Clinician — Jane Jennings, RN, BSN, CNOR, RNFA, Memorial Hermann The Woodlands (Texas) Hospital

Nursing Education: Faculty — Annette C. McClinton, RN, MSN, PhD, Prairie View A&M University College of Nursing

As the state’s largest nurse scholarship program, Good Samaritan Foundation has granted more than $14.6 million to more than 12,000 students enrolled in nurse education programs and provides support for LVN to doctoral students, according to a news release. The foundation seeks excellence in nursing by increasing the profile of nursing; attracting new young people to the field; alleviating the severe shortage of qualified nurses and nurse faculty by granting scholarships directly to students; supporting nursing school faculty programs; and encouraging increased collaboration among the hospitals, nursing schools, and Greater Houston community.

Photos courtesy of Alexander’s Fine Portrait Design and Good Samaritan Foundation.