Ceremony Honors 2019 Nurses of Excellence at Tahoe Forest Health System

2019 Nurses of Excellence Award Recipients

Tahoe Forest Health System announced its 2019 Nurses of Excellence in a special ceremony on Tuesday, May 7. Nurses of Excellence exhibit exceptional qualities in areas of clinical competence, leadership, and commitment to the nursing profession.

In recognition of National Nurses Week, May 6 through 12, each year since 1990, Tahoe Forest Health System gives special thanks to all nurses and honors exceptional nurses with the Nurses of Excellence Award.

Top honors went to the following five nurses who were specially recognized for their exceptional skills and outstanding services, and also for demonstrating the Tahoe Forest values of quality, understanding, excellence, service and teamwork.

Bonnie Zellers, Ambulatory Surgery – Quality

Liz Cooke, Incline Village Community Hospital – Understanding

Camille Beck, MultiSpecialty Clinic, Internal Medicine/Cardiology – Excellence

John Christian, Surgery – Stewardship

Misty Garberson, Medical/Surgical Unit – Teamwork

These nurses were recognized for excellence in their profession, knowledge, teamwork and high quality care for their patients.

“Our mission at Tahoe Forest,” said Harry Weis, President & CEO, Tahoe Forest Health System, “is to serve our community through excellence and compassion every day. During National Nurses Week, we honor our Nurses of Excellence, but we’re also honoring all nurses for their commitment and service throughout the year.”

“Your dedication to our patients and your fellow staff has not gone unnoticed,”said Karen Baffone, Chief Nursing Officer, Tahoe Forest Health System, as she addressed the assembled group. “Thank you to all of our nurses for all you do—every day!”

The other 2019 Nurses of Excellence Nominees were:

Gabrielle Alberti, Ambulatory Surgery; Juli Anderson, Surgery; Lori Belden, Emergency; Allison Brook, Medical/Surgical Unit; Carol Ann Clark, Emergency; Lindsay Curtis, Intensive Care Unit; Kim Discher, Gene Upshaw Memorial Tahoe Forest Cancer Center; Morgan Gray, Intensive Care Unit; Sarah Haden, Intensive Care Unit; Lynn Hammill, Medical/Surgical Unit; Chris Hess, MultiSpecialty Clinic, Orthopedics; Casey Meddock, Intensive Care Unit; Christine Teittinen, Intensive Care Unit; Sue Train, Wellness; Jane Warner, Incline Village Community Hospital; Brett Wolf, Intensive Care Unit; Jamie Young, Gene Upshaw Memorial Tahoe Forest Cancer Center

Nominees were selected by their peers and are considered to be dedicated role models valued by staff and the community they serve. Nurses are highly dedicated with varied interests, strengths and passions, and work in various facilities like emergency rooms, maternity wards and pediatric offices, to name a few. A nurse has many roles—from staff nurse, educator, nurse practitioner, to nurse researcher, striving to serve with passion for their profession and a strong commitment to patient care and safety.

May 10, 2019