Ken Blair, BS, RN
Ken Blair, BS, RN, (kneeling left), now an ED nurse at Shore Memorial Hospital, Nassawadox, VA, is shown in one of his life roles ― soldier in Iraq. Here Blair tends to a wounded Iraqi soldier in the middle of a firefight. What the photo doesn’t show are the bullets whizzing by Blair and the soldiers. The wounded soldier has a fentanyl lollipop in his mouth.
Photo of Blair with soldier in Jeep
Ken Blair, BS, RN, with a fellow soldier ready for a day in Iraq.
Ariam Gebrehiwot, BSN, RN
Ethiopian-born Ariam Gebrehiwot, BSN, RN, grew up in an environment where healthcare was not easily accessible. When it came time to choose a career, she decided on nursing because she wanted to have more contact with patients. She is now department head nurse of the Heart Failure and Cardiac Stepdown Unit at Washington Hospital Center, Washington, DC.
Deborah Aksamit, BS, RN
For Deborah Aksamit, BS, RN, a bad day in nursing never involves patient care. Patients are usually the best part of her day, this Johns Hopkins Hospital Adult ED, Baltimore, nurse says.
DeLois Hamilton, BSN, RN
Not even retirement can keep DeLois Hamilton, BSN, RN, from performing nursing duties. The 63-year-old former assistant nursing director of Regional Institute for Children and Adolescents in Baltimore has been working and volunteering off and on since retiring in 1997.
Elizabeth Galik, PhD, CRNP
Elizabeth Galik, PhD, CRNP, assistant professor at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, knows nurses are often involved in the most private and vulnerable parts of a patient’s life. That is most evident when a patient has dementia. Galik has become an advocate to improve the quality of life for these patients.
Holly Glassberg, MSN, RN
Holly Glassberg, MSN, RN, believes nurses are a key piece to a much larger mission of improving health. So this manager of the nursing governance program at the University of Virginia Health System, Charlottesville, VA, seeks systems to help nurses do their jobs. She helped institute a minimal-lift environment to protect nurses’ backs.
Jackqueline Holmes, RN
Baltimore resident Jackqueline Holmes, RN, always wanted to be a nurse, but her life path took her into eye care. In a life-changing decision she took a job at Johns Hopkins Hospital as a clinical technician and then got into the LINC (Leaders in Nursing Careers) program at Hopkins to become a nurse. This Adult ED nurse is again taking advantage of Hopkins’ education programs and is studying for her bachelor’s degree.
Julie Moses, RN
Julie Moses, RN, who is a full-time nurse at Washington Hospital Center, Washington, DC, also uses her nursing expertise in Prince George’s County, Maryland, where she lives. Moses, president of the Langley Park Boys & Girls Club, hosts health fairs at the club to educate the community on heart disease, cholesterol, diabetes and other topics.
Karen Kenyon, RN
In her role as school nurse, Karen Kenyon, RN, has saved lives. She has kept children alive until emergency medical service technicians arrived. “In a school setting, you don’t have back up like you would elsewhere,” she says.
Karen Scipio-Skinner, MSN, RN
As the first nurse hired as executive director of the Washington, DC, Board of Nursing (she began in 2002), Karen Scipio-Skinner, MSN, RN, has her work cut out for her. “We want to make sure we are protecting the public, but we also want nurses to know we are here.”
Yolanda Carr, BSN, RN
Yolanda Carr, BSN, RN, senior nurse clinician, physical medicine rehabilitation, The Johns Hopkins University Hospital, Baltimore, finds nursing is a 24/7 profession, no matter where you are.
Lindsey Semon, BS, RN
Lindsey Semon, BS, RN, is a dedicated oncology nurse, after only 4 months in the profession. Even the e-mail address of this Riverside Regional Medical Center, Newport News, VA nurse is the acrostic for “hope for a cancer cure.”
Sheila DeRiso, BSN, RN, CEN, CCRN
Besides being a dedicated ED nurse at Montgomery General Hospital, Olney, MD, Sheila DeRiso, BSN, RN, CEN, CCRN, is passionate about mentoring. “Experienced nurses need to quit eating our young. There are plenty of us out there acting as mentors and welcoming new nurses with open arms.”