Iowa City, IA (March 1, 2017) – The 100 Great Iowa Nurses program is proud to announce the 2017 honorees have been selected and posted online. Nurses selected for this honor represent many sectors of health care, including hospitals, long-term care facilities, and school and office nurses. These exemplary nurses are selected based on their concern for humanity, their contribution to the community and to the nursing profession, their leadership and mentoring.
On Sunday, May 7, we will celebrate the 100 Great Iowa Nurses at the Iowa Events Center – Grand Ballroom in Des Moines. This is the 13th anniversary of the program. The celebration is an annual prelude to National Nurses Week, which begins on May 6 and ends May 12 (the birthday of Florence Nightingale).
This year, the 100 honorees represent 39 Iowa counties, and were selected from a pool of more than 400 individuals who were nominated by colleagues, patients, doctors, friends, and family members. The field of nominees was narrowed to 100 by a panel of reviewers, including nursing professionals and previous honorees.
The program has honored nurses from 95 of Iowa’s 99 counties over the past 13 years. We have included a map detailing our reach.
2017 Chair and Interim Dean of the College of Nursing Thad Wilson says, “We are thrilled to announce that this year the program will celebrate a nurse from Worth County for the first time. Our hope is to eventually reach every county in the state of Iowa.”
This is a statewide event that belongs to the people of Iowa, and is made possible through the generous support of our sponsors. Additional funds raised for the program are used for financial awards for nursing education. We would like to thank the following sponsors:
Platinum ($7,500)
Mercy Health Network
University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics
Gold ($5,000)
UnityPoint Health
Silver ($3,000)
Iowa Nurse Practitioner Society
This year’s ceremony will be bittersweet, as we mourn the loss of Rita A. Frantz, Dean of the University of Iowa College of Nursing, who was a long-time supporter and chair of the program. Frantz was instrumental in the advancement of the program’s mission to support the nursing profession and the educational advancement of nurses statewide.
About Iowa Great Nurses
100 Great Iowa Nurses is a nonprofit program that honors great nurses in Iowa, and funds financial awards to support the education of Iowa nurses. Established in 2004, the program recognizes qualities that demonstrate efforts beyond those expected of a nurse within his/her normal duties, such as concern for humanity, significant contribution to the profession, and mentoring. For more information, visit greatnurses.org.
