Nurses are greatly appreciated, especially when working toward the strategic initiatives of the institution. Loma Linda University Health’s goal is to recognize groups of nurses through various categories of achievement. During Nurses Week 2018, four awards were presented. The recipients were chosen by nursing leadership; they were given a recognition award and monetary prize.   

2023 Grant Awardees

Evidence-Based Practice

Name Project Topic Amount Awarded
Yuri Oda, BSN, R, LLUMC – East Campus Unit 1400  Buddy Nurse Champion Program $450
Ridhima Savdharia, BSN, RN, Troesch Medical Campus Unit 14 East     Diabetes Type II Education Booklet $750

Research Grant

Jethrone Role, DNP, RN  Study: Significance of Automation in Nursing Workflows  $5000

 2024 Grant Awardees

Evidence-Based Practice

Name Project Topic Amount Awarded
Cricketara Ramos, BSN, RN, CCRN Scott Walters, BSN, RN, CCRN Jennifer Clark, BSN, RN, CCRN, RCP  Workplace Safety in the MICU   $750
Josh Billings, MSN, RN  – 2023 EBP Fellow   Compassionate Communication Booklet $500
Tanjia Christensen, BSN, RN James Thompson, BSN, MSN, RN, Carmela Hongthong, M.A. Ed, MSN, RN, Christina Guzman, BSN, MBA, RN, Kolini Manu, BSN, RN  Megann Synnott, BSN, RN Strategic Improvement in Employee Engagement w/i a Float Pool Team $750

2024 Nurses Week Award Winners

Transformational Leadership:

Carla Burgos, BSN, RN

Carla is a transformational leader who inspires and motivates her team to achieve extraordinary outcomes. She fosters a supportive environment where individuals can grow and develop. Recently, three of her staff were hired as full-time charge nurses for a new unit. When asked about their journey, one said, “The motivation to enroll in the introductory leadership course primarily came from our manager. She played a pivotal role in informing us about the opportunity and encouraged us to explore avenues for leadership growth.”

When given the chance to move to the new Dennis and Carol Troesh Medical Campus building, all her charge nurses and more than half of her staff chose to stay with her in the Vintage Tower. This loyalty speaks to the strong bond Carla fosters through her authenticity and empathy. Carla’s impact extends beyond her own team. As we opened Unit 8100, Carla continued to support Laralynn Pantan, BSN,RN, providing coaching and mentorship. Her grace, kindness, and compassion are evident not only in her support for Laralynn but also in her commitment to the entire Unit 8100 team, demonstrating her dedication to excellence and collaboration.

Exemplary Professional Practice: 

Ken Wenszell, BSN, RN

Ken Wenszell started his career at Loma Linda as a nurse on Unit 8100, the Surgical Trauma ICU. I worked with him for many years on that floor. Ken has increased his scope since then. He is a very qualified frontline RNwith expertise in clinical informatics. He is the one we run to so that we can revise documentation that will be more helpful to our nurses. Ken works tirelessly as the director of Informatics, his current title. Ken takes time to round with our nurses on the floor. He engages them, gets their input and provides examples of how to save time, like documenting to exception. 

There have been many significant changes that Ken has been able to bring about, saving much time for nurses. One of the changes is in decreasing the cancellation of best practice advisory (BPAs) alerts, or pop-up alarms, as there were numerous amounts — enough to make nurses pause for many minutes at a time. It is such a pleasure to have Ken as part of the leadership team, engaging staff, bringing new ideas, and seeking to improve our compliance and quality that ultimately improves the patient care that our nurses provide.

Evidence-Based Practice: 

Out the Door Dinosaur: Assessing Health Literacy to Improve Discharge Education.  Joanne Ramirez, ADN, RN, Jennifer Newcombe, DNP, MSN, CNS-BC, CPNP-PC/AC

Pediatric Cardiothoracic Intensive Care Unit (CTICU) nurses, Joanne Ramirez and Jennifer Newcombe, have been longstanding champions and advocates for professional development and evidence-based practice at Loma Linda University Children’s Health. Most recently, this team participated in the American Association of Critical Care Nurses (AACN) Clinical Science Investigator (CSI) Academy where they were inspired to take a deeper look at the challenges posed by unaddressed health literacy and the resulting impact on patient safety. Together, they created a literacy screening tool to address health literacy as the newest vital sign. The team developed a literacy tool kit with education materials designed for low literacy, which was used to educate caregivers in five areas: medication administration, wound care, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, nutrition, and when to seek additional medical care. In 2023, 95% of caregivers were screened and had the appropriate education given to them based on their literacy score. The team reviewed department patient satisfaction scores as a measure of success. Department scores on the National Research Center (NRC) question, “During this hospital stay, how often did your child’s nurses explain things to you in a way that was easy to understand?” increased from 80% in quarter 1 of 2023 to 100% in quarter 4 of 2023. 100% of caregivers surveyed after discharge also reported that they felt confident in performing medical tasks on which they were educated during admission.  

Structural Empowerment: 

Penny Amornvut, MSN, RN, CCRN-K

Penny Amornvut has dedicated her career to Loma Linda University Health, starting as an educator and helping to advance her team of nurses so that they would excel in providing excellent care to cardiac patients. As she advanced her career through to director, and currently as the executive director of Cardiac Services, her scope is huge, but she maintains a calmness about her, and she builds her teams. She knows her employees personally, encouraging her team to continue with their education and strive for individual certifications that provide growth. 

Anyone can attest that Penny is known for saying, “It can be done, and you [or we] will achieve it.” Whether it be for the frontline nurse or the service line itself, Penny will support and grow both. She understands and believes that with a team that is confident in their skills and leadership, the impossible can be done. 

New Knowledge:  

Patti Radovich, PhD, RN, CNS, FCCM

As the pioneer of the Nursing Research department, Dr. Patti Radovich is the epitome of nursing research, evidence-based practice, and innovation for nursing at Loma Linda University Health. Having served the organization for more than 45 years in various roles from clinical nurse to the director of Nursing Research, Dr. Radovich is well known throughout the organization. She is an advocate for both patients and nurses, a mentor to many, always pursuing the expansion of nursing research through her progressive research studies, but above all, a valuable colleague to all of us. 

She had an impressively elevated nursing position when she became the vice chair of the organization’s Institutional Review Board. Her support to the currently developed innovation lab and nurses-led innovation has brought forward a collaboration between the University and Hospital. Furthermore, she has also maintained a close partnership with the School of Nursing, mentoring and guiding graduate students in developing their Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) projects and pursuing dissemination. 

She is currently involved in various collaborative research studies and has done poster presentations on the hospital move and virtual nursing studies. Always an educator at heart, Dr. Radovich strongly believes in the pursuit and sharing of knowledge. Her wealth of knowledge is a treasure to our organization and nursing practice.