The WVU Medicine Camden Clark commemorated National Nurses Week. On Wednesday a number of nurses were honored at a luncheon where a number of people were honored and given awards. Pictured are, from left, Camden Clark President and CEO Sean Smith, Shynel Kehle who was named Licensed Practical Nurse of the Year, Melinda Burgess who was named Patient Care Technician of the Year, Brittney Boley who was named Certified Medical Assistant of the Year, Caitlin Shears who was named Clinic Licensed Practical Nurse of the Year, Kathleen Parsons who was named Clinic RN of the Year, Specialty Care Supervisor Chelesa Shields who was awarded the DAISY Nurse Leader Award, Chelsea Mathews who was named Registered Nurse of the Year and Camden Clark Chief Nursing Officer Carol Grove. (Photo by Brett Dunlap)

PARKERSBURG — The WVU Medicine Camden Clark Medical Center commemorated all the work nurses do by recognizing the best of the best of those who provide care every day to patients.

As part of National Nurses Week celebrations for May 6-12, WVU Medicine Camden Clark honored its nursing and clinical teams at the annual Nurses Excellence Luncheon and Award Ceremony held on Wednesday.

Camden Clark President and CEO Sean Smith said part of National Nurses’ Week was to commemorate the life and work of Florence Nightingale (born May 12, 1820) who was one of the central figures in modern nursing, making significant contributions and brought nursing into the modern era with sterilization tactics and more.

“We also celebrate the influences nurses have on the health care industry,” Smith said. “You are so impactful and so influential.

“You are not only caregivers but you are policymakers, educators and you mean so much to the point where if you took nursing away, health care would collapse.”

WVU Medicine Camden Clark President and CEO Sean Smith and Foundation Executive Director Kim Couch are pictured with the Camden Clark School of Nursing Alumnae in attendance at a luncheon Tuesday where local students pursuing health care degrees were named winners of annual scholarships presented by the hospital. (Photo Provided)

Smith commended the impact nurses have on people who are in their most vulnerable state.

“Camden Clark is a place of healing,” he said. “We treat illness, repair physical injury and save lives.

“The healing process is more than just medicine. It is about support, empathy and about making human connection.”

Chief Nursing Officer Carol Grove said they were giving out awards from their clinics, outpatient areas and inpatient areas.

“We got some incredible nominations and we are thrilled we are able to recognize all of the hard work that people do,” she said. “It is quite an honor to be nominated and then to be chosen by your peers is quite an accomplishment.”

Pictured on the right is Julia Auch, one of the four recipients of the Leo D. Carsner Memorial Scholarship on Tuesday during a luncheon Tuesday hosted by the Camden Clark Foundation for alumnae of the former Camden Clark School of Nursing where local students pursuing health care degrees were named winners of annual scholarships presented by the hospital. Auch is a former Camden Clark teen volunteer and will attend the University of Pittsburgh in the fall to pursue a Master of Public Health in Epidemiology. Her mother, Amy Auch, is pictured with her on the left. (Photo Provided)

Awards were given out for:

* Registered Nurse of the Year — Chelsea Mathews of the Cath Lab

* Registered Nurse Rookie of the Year — Lacey McCoullough of 4 North

* Patient Care Technician of the Year — Melinda Burgess of the CVU

* Licensed Practical Nurse of the Year — Shynel Kehle of 3 North

Anastasia Yost, nursing student at Washington State College of Ohio, is pictured left with Camden Clark Foundation Executive Director Kim Couch during the scholarship presentation on Tuesday. Anastasia is one of the two recipients of the Foundation’s Nursing Alumnae Scholarship. (Photo Provided)

* Clinic Licensed Practical Nurse of the Year — Caitlin Shears of Internal Medicine Southgate

* Certified Medical Assistant of the Year — Brittney Boley of Endocrinology

* Clinic RN of the Year — Kathleen Parsons of Occupational Health

“This week is truly an opportunity to truly thank everyone of you all for all that you do, whatever your role is,” Grove said. “It is everybody that is helping to take care of our patients and the community.

“Nursing is truly more than a profession, it is a calling. I hope you all feel the same way.”

Specialty Care Supervisor Chelesa Shields was awarded the DAISY Nurse Leader Award. The award was created in 1999 by the DAISY (Diseases Attacking the Immune System) Foundation to honor nurses internationally for the compassionate care provided by nurses as they care for patients and family members.

“I am very honored and very excited,” she said. “It is really a good feeling to be recognized like that.”

Shields wants people in the nursing field to recognize how much heart and compassion they bring every day to work.

“It is not just about physically showing up to work,” she said. “We put a lot of care into what we do.”

Shields still does a lot of hands-on work at the patients’ bedsides. A lot of what she does involves being there for patients and staff to get through the hard times and offering support.

Mathews, who has worked at Camden Clark for almost 10 years, said she was “completely shocked and honored” to have won the award for Registered Nurse of the Year.

“I never expected to get this,” she said “I am thankful that someone thought of me and nominated me for this award.

“I feel it is one of the biggest honors you can have as a nurse to be recognized.”

Mathews spent a lot of time in hospitals when she was young as her grandmother was being treated for illnesses.

“Hospitals were part of my growing up and I always admired the people taking care of her,” she said. “I always look at all of my patients like they are family.”

She currently helps get patients ready for heart catheterizations, pacemakers and other procedures as well as help them recover afterwards.

In many cases, someone just saying “thank you” to a nurse means a lot to them in the work they do.

“When you are at the hospital, you are taking care of others’ loved ones, probably at the most vulnerable times of their lives,” Mathews said. “It is an honor to be able to take care of others. A `thank you’ goes a long way.”

On Tuesday, the Camden Clark Foundation hosted alumnae of the former Camden Clark School of Nursing at a luncheon where local students pursuing health care degrees were named winners of annual scholarships presented by the hospital, including two $2,500 nursing scholarship winners, in memory of former Camden Clark director of nursing, Ella Bloomheart, and patient, Barbara Fonte.

Contributions are made each year to fund the annual scholarships by alumni of the former Camden Clark School of Nursing, which graduated its last class in 1969. Local college students pursuing nursing degrees or currently employed RNs furthering their education are eligible for the scholarships.

Brett Dunlap can be reached at bdunlap@newsandsentinel.com