2023 Nightingale Awards for Nursing Excellence

May 10, 2023

Thank you…for being here tonight and being part of the Nightingale Awards for Nursing Excellence, an annual tradition that brings together the people, organizations and institutions that collectively work to address the healthcare of people throughout the region.
A special thanks to our sponsors, whose support and generosity make possible this gathering of representatives from our region’s healthcare systems, public health departments, financial institutions and health insurance providers.
For three decades, the Nightingale Awards have acknowledged professionals in healthcare for their outstanding contributions in going “above and beyond” in strengthening Michigan’s nursing community.
But really, isn’t that what nurses do – go above and beyond…
Each of us either knows a nurse or has been “touched” by a nurse.
It’s fair to say that nurses aren’t the type of people who seek attention….
…they are the type of people who give their attention.
For the people and profession we honor tonight, nursing is more than a job, it’s a calling.
Nurses lead by caring…
by showing us the healing power of compassion…
…and reminding us of our fundamental responsibility to each other.
In the three years since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, we must not only learn from what nurses can teach us, but we must also find better ways to care about the nurses who care for us.
There is a nursing shortage in Michigan…. And we must address the reasons for shortage.
We must realize that nurses make up the underpinning of the American healthcare system, and that underpinning is in serious need of support.
In an increasingly complex healthcare system of specialists, there is a compelling need for all of us in healthcare and nursing education to remember that we must treat the whole patient …
No one knows that better than the nurses who are side by side with patients’ hour after hour, day after day.
Here at Oakland University and at nursing schools across the country, we are finding ways to graduate more registered nurses to meet the current healthcare demand.
To help meet the critical demand for nurses in Michigan, Oakland University and Corewell Health have partnered to increase the number of nurses graduating from OU.
But the challenge continues: We must find ways to care for those who care for us.
By the way, National Nurses Week is May 14 through May 20…The theme this year is “Cultivating Kindness.”
The humanitarian Albert Schweitzer observed:

“Constant kindness can accomplish much. As the sun makes ice melt, kindness causes misunderstanding, mistrust, and hostility to evaporate.”

In these times, it’s so timely to appreciate the essential work and lasting influence of nurses…and the power of kindness.
And… in the spirit of generosity and kindness, please join me in a moment of appreciation to the Maggie Allessee family. Maggie’s son and family are with us tonight.
Quite frankly, Maggie was a legend when she was with us…. And she leaves legendary footsteps that will not be easily or ever filled.
Maggie funded first endowed chair at the OU’s School of Nursing, and, founded the annual Nightingale Awards.
She was among the region’s most notable philanthropist dedicated to the arts, health care, education and nonprofits.
It’s just not her name that is associated with philanthropy, but her tireless, selfless spirit.
We are so proud that Maggie is a recipient of an Honorary Doctor of Humanities from Oakland and the OU Alumni Association’s Honorary Alumna Award.
Maggie touched so many lives in so many ways…. Here is just one of the many ways she’ll be remembered…

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