School of Medicine nurses honored with 2014 Excellence in Nursing awards

Pictured are some of the School of Medicine’s honorees in the annual Excellence in Nursing awards. In the back (from left) are Mary Alice McCubbins, Brenda Hall, Michael Klebert, Michael Rybak and Nancy Larson-Vomund. In front (from left) are Bonnie Johnston, Dawn Lintzenich, Jessica Doiron and Diane Athmer.
(Credit: Mark Gilliland)

Four School of Medicine nurses recently received the 2014 Excellence in Nursing Award from St. Louis Magazine, honoring local nurses who have made a difference in the lives of their patients and colleagues.

The fifth annual awards were announced late last month. The four recipients, each of whom received a perfect score by those who decided on the honors, are:

  • Diane Athmer, a nurse in the Department of Otolaryngology, head and neck surgery. Athmer won top honors in the oncology category.
  • Kathleen O’Neal, a nurse in the Department of Orthopedic Surgery, who received top honors in the community care/ambulatory care category.
  • Michael Rybak, a staff nurse anesthetist in the Department of Anesthesiology, who was awarded the top honor in the acute care/family practice/general medicine category.
  • Georgia Stobbs-Cucchi, a head research nurse in the Department of Orthopedic Surgery, who received the top award in the research category.

Eleven other School of Medicine nurses were finalists in the 18 total categories. They are:

  • Debra DeMarco Shaw, of the Department of Medicine, AIDS Clinical Trials Unit (ACTU);
  • Jessica Doiron, of the Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases;
  • Brenda Hall, of the Department of Neurosurgery;
  • Bonnie Johnston, of the Department of Surgery;
  • Michael Klebert, PhD, of the Department of Medicine, ACTU;
  • Lisa Koester, of the Department of Medicine, Renal Division;
  • Kristin Kolley, of the Department of Medicine, Division of Allergy and Immunology;
  • Nancy Larson-Vomund, of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology;
  • Dawn Lintzenich, of the Department of Neurology;
  • Mary Alice McCubbins, of the Department of Surgery, Division of Pediatric Surgery;
  • Jeanette Stoney, of the Department of Neurosurgery.

To read more about the awards, see the story in St. Louis Magazine.