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The Wright Stuff: 'Inspire, Innovate, Influence' - Our nurses check all the boxes

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A message to the WVU Medicine-WVU Hospitals family

It’s National Nurses Week (May 6-12) – a great time to thank our nurses for all they do (and they do a lot!) to help our patients, their families, and the organization.

Kristine Sadlek, left, Nurse of the Year, poses with Mary Fanning, director, Nursing Administration, who nominated her for the award.

Part of the Nurses Week tradition at WVU Medicine is honoring our top nurses with awards. It’s an extremely difficult task choosing the “best of the best,” but Kristine Sadlek’s accomplishments have earned her our WVU Medicine-WVU Hospitals’ Nurse of the Year award. She received this news at a ceremony held this week.

The theme of the week is “Inspire, Innovate, Influence,” and, like many of our nurses, Kristine lives up to that in every way. She came here in 2006 from Duke University Medical Center in North Carolina on a leap of faith. She was a single mother of a young daughter with no ties to Morgantown or West Virginia. But she had a friend who encouraged her to move here.

Kristine was a pioneer in two ways. First, she came here when, traditionally, most of our nurses went to school here, trained here, or had some tie to WVU or Morgantown. Now we recruit from coast to coast in an effort to find the “best and brightest” to support our high-level care. Secondly, she has revolutionized vascular access nursing at WVU Medicine.

Our top nursing administrators tell me that Kristine’s knowledge has helped save many, many lives from infection. Also, Kristine is a mentor to other nurses, not only at J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital but also across the system.

Pictured, left to right, are Tara Rozzo and Janet Griffin, Nurse of the Year finalists; Kristine Sadlek, Nurse of the Year; Doug Mitchell, Chief Nursing Officer; and Rebecca Weidman and Laura Schmidle, Nurse of the Year finalists.

Kristine has one of many terrific stories our nurses bring to WVU Medicine. We honored five nurses during this week's ceremony. That’s a small representation of the thousands of dedicated and skilled nurses who make a difference here every day.

Along with their day-to-day skills, these outstanding nurses also help contribute significantly to our reputation. WVU Medicine-WVU Hospitals has held an American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Magnet® designation for excellence in nursing services since 2005.

Recognition like this not only builds confidence in our patients but boosts organizational pride, which in turn draws more terrific nurses and employees here.

This is just another way our nurses enhance WVU Medicine!