Nurses from Baylor Health Care System Honored

Contact: Susan Hall, 214-820-1817
Email: susanh@baylorhealth.edu

(DALLAS, TX - April 23, 2007) - Seventeen nurses from six Baylor facilities are among DFW's 100 Great Nurses named by the Texas Nurses Association, Districts Three and Four, and Dallas-Fort Worth Nurse Executives.

"Health care is centered around nursing care," says Rosemary Luquire, R.N., Ph.D., CNAA, FAAN, senior vice president and chief nursing officer, Baylor Health Care System. "I love nursing and have never wanted to be anything but a nurse. I truly believe in the power of what nursing can accomplish. We are honored to have these Baylor nurses selected by their peers as among the best."

The honor focuses on the nurses' qualities as role models in leadership, service to the community, compassion as a caregiver, and significant contributions to nursing. The Baylor nurses selected range in nursing experience from 52 to four years.

Those named 100 Great Nurses include:

Baylor All Saints Medical Center at Fort Worth
Zita Bolling, RN, BSN, CRM
Becky Hardie, RN, MS, HCAD
Pauline Lauderdale, RN, BSN, CRRN
Linda Liewer, RN, BSN, MPH, CPHQ
Joy Lynn Lira, RN, BSN, MS, CS
Maureen Madewell, RN
Irene Woods, RN, CNOR

Baylor Institute for Rehabilitation
Sandi McDermott, RN, MSN, CNAA-BC

Baylor Medical Center at Irving
Barry Allen, RN, BSN
Sarah Joslin, RN, BS
Gail Kemp, RN, BSN, CEN

Baylor Regional Medical Center at Grapevine
Loretta Saunders, RN, BSN, CNA, BC
Terri Scamardo, RN, MSN, MHA

Baylor Regional Medical Center at Plano
Susan Boryca, RN, CPAN, CCRN
Mary Rust, RN, BS, CCM

Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas
Sharon Gunn, RN, BSN, CCRN
Tammy Marnell, RNC

Sarah Joslin, R.N., Baylor Medical Center at Irving, has been a nurse for 52 years. "In high school I was drawn to the medical field and felt 'called' to nursing," says Mrs. Joslin. "This apparently was the correct choice, as I love nursing today as much, if not more, than I did back in 1955." Several of Mrs. Joslin's children and grandchildren have followed her into the nursing profession.

"My mother was a nurse and I knew how much she loved her job. I always wanted to be a nurse, just like her," recalls Susan Boryca, R.N., Baylor Regional Medical Center at Plano.

In her 30-year nursing career, there have been many memorable experiences for Irene Woods, R.N., Baylor All Saints Medical Center. "I can remember the first time I touched a heart in an open heart surgery and felt it beat under my hand," she recalls. "I thought about how amazing the human body really is."

Sandi McDermott, R.N., a clinical nurse manager at Baylor Institute for Rehabilitation, wishes she'd become a nurse 20 years earlier. "I was working for a dermatologist who encouraged me to return to school to pursue nursing. My father is a physician and my mother is a nurse, so it was a natural progression. I did not listen to my instincts soon enough!"

Sharon Gunn, R.N., Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas moved into nursing from education. "Nursing is a second career for me," she says. "I believe that as nurses we can make a profound difference in peoples' lives in times of crises. I practice nursing as if I were taking care of one of my own family members."

"I always wanted to take care of people," remembers Loretta Saunders, R.N., Baylor Regional Medical Center at Grapevine. "My mother suggested nursing to me, so I decided to it. When I started the clinical portion of nursing school, I knew then, that this is what I wanted to do."

The nurses will be honored on Wednesday evening, May 9, at the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center.

About Baylor Health Care System - based in Dallas, Texas, is a network of hospitals, primary care and specialty care centers, rehabilitation clinics, affiliated ambulatory surgery centers and the Baylor Research Institute. One of the largest private-sector employers in Dallas/Fort Worth, Baylor employs more than 16,000 people and has more than 2,700 physicians on its medical staffs. Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas, flagship hospital of the system, is a major patient care, teaching and research center for the Southwest. For fiscal year 2006, Baylor Health Care System reported $405.6 million in community benefit to the Texas Department of State Health Services.