Three Outstanding Nurses to Receive Extraordinary Healer Award for Compassion in Patient Care

The CURE community is coming together to honor outstanding nurses and celebrate their contributions to oncology care at the 15th annual Extraordinary Healer® Award for Oncology Nursing celebration on April 29 from 6:30-8:00 p.m. EDT

“Congratulations to these incredible nurses who have gone above and beyond making a difference in their patients’ lives,” said Mike Hennessy Jr., president and CEO of MJH Life Sciences™, parent company of CURE Media Group. “We remain inspired by their compassion and dedication and look forward to making it an amazing evening to remember with our honorees family, friends and their colleagues.”

The annual event celebrates the compassion, expertise and helpfulness of oncology nurses. The nominations are submitted by colleagues, patients, friends and family of nurses around the world.

Finalists for the Extraordinary Healer® Award, of which the winner will be announced live, are:

• Katherine Gacek, B.S.N., RN, OCN, a nurse navigator at the University of Chicago Medicine. Nominated by Dr. Paul Kent, who wrote, “Most importantly, Jessica treats the scared patients like they are her own family. Most of the patients she sees have been told they are going to die. Jessica gives them hope and optimism that they can and will effectively fight this terrible cancer.”

• Jessica Kelley, M.S.N., B.A., RN, CNL, a transplant coordinator at Rush University Medical Center. Nominated by Bradford Evans, who wrote, “She is a true angel of the battlefield in the fight against cancer. Instead of carrying a weapon, she carries her helping hands, professionalism, a caring attitude and a warm smile with humor tossed in, and she actually listens to her patients.”

• Maria Lim, B.S.N., RN, OCN, BMTCN, an infusion clinical nurse working at Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center. Nominated by Rose Conti, M.S.N., RN, CNML, who wrote, “Katherine wants only the best for her patients. This … shows how her efforts positively affected not only her patients but also other patients within the infusion center. She has shown this time and time again when approaching challenges in her role as a nurse navigator at our organization.”

The event will also honor the selfless achievements of a nurse who provided exemplary care during the COVID-19 crisis with its Finest Hour award. This year’s winner is Jennifer E. Giovanni, Ph.D., MSN, MPH, RN, a travel nurse for Aya Healthcare.

Giovanni was nominated by Pam Malone, RN, APRN, who wrote, “Although she was often overwhelmed by the critically ill patients and the number of deaths she witnessed on a daily basis, Jennifer persevered. She is always a patient and family advocate while serving as a member of the team. It was her choice to serve in poor and underserved areas (because) she felt she could be of the most use in those locations.”

The event’s keynote address will be delivered by award-winning actor and producer Sterling K. Brown.

This event is free to register and attend. To listen to the inspiring stories of extraordinary nurses register at curetoday.com.

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