Please congratulate the following 2023 award winners.

New to Practice 

Victoria (Tori) Diaz 

Tori is a clinical nurse at Boston Children’s Hospital and was nominated by several staff members.  Tori started her healthcare career as a clinical assistant before transitioning into the RN role.  Her life experience has nurtured her ability to communicate with her colleagues with empathy and respect.  A comment was made “What would we do without Tori and the other wonderful RNs that were in her new grad RN cohort? With the many staffing challenges since they started, they have all stepped up to the plate to help our department in any way possible.  Tori has made impressive strides in her nursing practice.  It’s hard to believe that she has only been an RN for two years!”.  She is a mentor and resource to staff at the bedside, especially with sickle cell patients. As co-chair of the ED Sickle Cell CPG, she was instrumental in moving forward a ‘standard order set’ to expedite pain medication administration during a crisis.  Her calm, supportive nature contributes to her success in the role of preceptor, and we look forward to her contributions to developing staff in this role.     As noted, she is a quiet leader with active eyes and ears that inform high reliability, making her a natural and gifted  

Alyssa Jolicoeur 

Alyssa Jolicoeur is currently the Director at Sturdy Memorial Hospital.  As noted in her nomination she has consistently shown growth, commitment, and passion to her career in emergency nursing.  Alyssa initially started as a unit secretary and patient care assistant in the emergency department. Within a short period Alyssa excelled to the position of Registered Nurse in the Emergency Department. As a Registered Nurse Alyssa  Alyssa had shown phenomenal professional development. Alyssa served as a preceptor for new staff, a charge nurse, peer educator and elevated to the position of clinical coordinator of the night shift, Nurse Manager and currently holds the position of Director in an ED that see’s 50,000 patients annually.  She is a strong supporter of her staff and as you speak with her you can sense the dedication she has to supporting her staff.
Though Alyssa has consistently exceeded in all areas of emergency nursing, the best example of her promise is the work she has done bringing the emergency department out of the COVID pandemic at Sturdy Memorial Hospital.  The work clearly showed her ability to lead her staff during challenging times including staffing issues, fiscal restraints and increasing patient volumes on a daily basis while accepting additional leadership responsibilities as dictated by senior leadership.   

Education 

Dr. Curtin

Dr. Curtin currently serves as the Director of Nursing Education and Research at Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton.  With a background in critical care medicine, Dr. Curtin may be a surprising nominee to the ENA behind the scenes award.  However, due to recent events within the community including the temporary closure of Norwood and Brockton Hospitals, Dr. Curtin has found herself thrown into the position of onboarding and educating a significant influx of emergency nurses.  The challenges faced by Dr. Curtin and the nursing education department were many as it relates to the sheer volume and frequency of the onboarding process while ensuring a steady stream of competent and credentialed nurses passing through our doors. During a period of staffing changes, Dr. Curtin found herself without a dedicated ED educator.  With barely a free moment to spare, Dr. Curtin immersed herself in the qualifications and educational needs of the ED, facilitating access to such invaluable resources as remote TCAR certifications, frequent onsite TNCC courses and integration of the ENA residency modules into the residency program.  Recently Dr. Curtin in conjunction with the current ED educator, has developed a “rolling admission” style ED RN residency program to broaden the scope and availability of high-quality education to new grad RN’s. 

Behind the Scenes 

Joanne Hallallan

This year the state recognizes Joanne Hallallan who is a true asset to the state ENA.   Joanne is ALWAYS ready to pitch in, whatever the task. Whether it be sending out emails to Faulkner staff drumming up membership, or taking on the daunting task of co-chair duties for New England Regional Symposium, she is always there to provide support and a ready smile.  Joannne has been a person who often will follow up after a meeting to offer her time to support open items.  The ability for MAENA to succeed is in large part to members like Joanne.