Each year, Southwestern Vermont Health Care (SVHC) honors a nurse whose accomplishments in the areas of leadership, service and scholarship are worthy of the health system’s highest recognition. This award is called the Search for Excellence, and the 2016 honoree is Karen Hewson, MSN, RN, CEN, of Hoosick Falls, NY. She was celebrated at the SVHC’s 2016 Nurses Week Celebration in May.
Hewson received her associate’s in Nursing, Sisters of St. Joseph; a bachelor’s in Nursing, Southern Vermont College; and a master’s in Nursing, University of Phoenix, and holds additional certifications in emergency nursing, critical care nursing, and post-anesthesia care. She has worked as a nurse for 44 years.
Most recently, Hewson helped develop Southwester Vermont Medical Center’s Transitional Care Program for high-risk patients. The program provides a nurse to accompany patients through the medical system and during home visits with the aim of reducing inpatient admissions.
“I worked in the Emergency Department for 20 years. I had some speculation about what patients were up against in their home environments. Now I get to really see it and help them get over those barriers,” Hewson explained. “And I am afforded more time with the patient, which is exactly what they need.”
Honorees are known for excellence in nursing practice, professionalism and development of other health care providers, sensitivity and compassion in their professional relationships. Active in shared governance, committee involvement. In addition, two non-nurse staff were also awarded for their contributions to excellence in nursing: Hospitalist Elizabeth A. Whateley, MD, is the 2016 Magnet Provider, and Gary Strubel, knowledge and instructional analyst, is the Spirit of Magnet honoree.
About SVHC:
Southwestern Vermont Health Care is a comprehensive, preeminent health care system providing exceptional, convenient, and affordable care to the communities of Bennington and Windham Counties of Vermont, eastern Rensselaer and Washington Counties of New York, and northern Berkshire County in Massachusetts. SVHC’s providers are members of the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Putnam Physicians, a multispecialty medical group operated in partnership with Dartmouth-Hitchcock. SVHC includes the Centers for Living and Rehabilitation, a 150-bed long- and short-term care facility; the SVHC Foundation; and Southwestern Vermont Medical Center (SVMC), a 99-bed community hospital. SVMC also includes 19 primary and specialty care practices with offices in Bennington, Manchester, Pownal, West Dover, and Wilmington, VT. The hospital is accredited by the Joint Commission and is the state’s first Magnet Center for Nursing Excellence, a distinction it has held since 2002. To learn more, visit svhealthcare.org.