three nurses with scrubs and face masks
Blog June 25, 2021

AMN Recognizes Commitment to Excellence Awards for Nurses Week

The Commitment to Excellence awards are given annually in recognition of Nurses Week (May 6 -12, 2019), which coincides with Florence Nightingale’s birthday.

The following four outstanding AMN travel nurses were chosen by a committee of AMN clients, clinicians, and recruiters. These nurses showed an unwavering commitment to excellence in the nursing profession that goes far beyond their job requirements.

The Overall Commitment to Excellence Award was given to Jeffrey Ward, RN, Telemetry, currently on assignment at CHI St. Luke’s Health Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center, Houston, TX, for continually striving to improve patient care through education and innovation, displaying an unmatched passion for the profession, and making a positive impact on both patients and colleagues.

A nurse manager affirmed his commitment to the profession of nursing: “Jeff’s compassion and kindness with the patients are remarkable. He has an advanced understanding of the disease process and checks on his patients frequently. He performs hourly rounding and AIDET at all times. Any facility would be lucky to have him.” Another said: “His greatest strength is his personality and his bedside manner. I have witnessed on a daily basis that his patients show trust and faith in him while he’s providing them safe and excellent care."

A patient noted: “That is one amazing angel you have working here.”

The Innovation Award went to Treasia Clark, RN, Telemetry, at CHI St. Luke’s Health Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center, Houston, TX. An innovative AMN Healthcare nurse is recognized for embracing new ideas, technology, and best practices, and initiating positive changes in their unit.

Her manager said: "Treasia is a driven, smart, and caring nurse. She was able to adapt to our difficult patient load with ease. She was such a pleasure."

The Customer Focus Award goes to April Ruder, RN, Pediatrics, who just finished an assignment at Kaiser San Diego Medical Center and started a new one at Seattle Children’s Hospital. This award is for a nurse who continually exceeds professional expectations by demonstrating the highest level of respect, loyalty, and commitment to improving the health and wellness of patients.

A nurse said: “April is widely loved by her patients as well as her coworkers. She recently found out that one of her patients loved the UNO card game. This patient did not have family present and often times sat in their room alone. April stopped by a store on the way home from work and bought the patient a deck of cards. The next day, during her lunch break, April sat with the patient and played UNO. I worked alongside her during this time and the patient clung to her immediately. I've witnessed multiple instances such as this and am inspired by April's attention to detail and an overwhelming sense of love for those she cares for.”

The Passion Award went to Heather Gosch, RN, ER, at Waterbury Hospital, Waterbury, CT. The Passion Award is for exemplifying the highest standards of professional excellence and extraordinary commitment to service.

Her AMN recruiter said: “Heather has an incredible amount of passion for what she does, and it absolutely shines through in her quality of patient care. She once told me what she loved most about being an ER nurse was being calm in the middle of someone's worst day. And that's exactly what Heather has been to her patients.”

AMN Healthcare celebrates these award-winning nurses and all of the nurses out there who provide such amazing and dedicated care to their patients.