Only seven nurses in the state receive this honor each year.
Lehigh Valley, Pa. (Nov. 6, 2009) – Lehigh Valley Health Network nurse Erin Brazil, L.P.N., has been named a recipient of the Nightingale Awards of Pennsylvania for 2009. The Nightingale Awards of Pennsylvania recognizes and honors exceptional nurses who practice in the Commonwealth. With more than 100 nominations submitted annually, Brazil was one of only seven Pennsylvania nurses to receive the honor this year.
Brazil, of Allentown, was a recipient of the Nightingale Clinical Practice Licensed Practice Nurse (LPN) award. She is part of Lehigh Valley Health Network’s Regional Burn Center Team at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest. For 31 out of her 33 years in nursing, she has dedicated herself to the specialty of burn care. She worked with acute patients in the inpatient Burn Center for several years. She now cares for adult and pediatric patients in the outpatient Burn Recovery Center. She is passionate about caring for burn patients and is highly specialized in the field. On top of providing thorough and holistic care to her patients, Brazil is committed to educating the public about burns and how to prevent a burn injury. She volunteers her time at a wide variety of community outreach events and even designed a teaching cart to help people in the community learn about burns. She was thrilled to receive the award.
Lehigh Valley Health Network nurses June Kelly, R.N., of Pottstown, and Megan Snyder, R.N., of Whitehall were also finalists for Nightingale Awards this year. The health network has had at least one Nightingale Award finalist in 18 of the 19 years the program has been in existence. Fifteen Lehigh Valley Health Network nurses have been named Nightingale Award recipients during this period.
Lehigh Valley Health Network includes three hospital facilities - two in Allentown and one in Bethlehem, Pa.; eight health centers caring for communities in four counties; numerous primary and specialty care physician practices throughout the region; pharmacy, imaging, home health services and lab services; and preferred provider services through Valley Preferred. Specialty care includes trauma care at the region’s busiest, most-experienced trauma center treating adults and children, burn care at the regional Burn Center, kidney and pancreas transplants; perinatal/neonatal, cardiac, cancer, and neurology and complex neurosurgery capabilities. Additional information is available at www.lvhn.org.
