Advocate Health Care names Sherman Hospital nurse among Nurse of the Year winners

Mary Gleason is one of 16 nurses who received The Advocate Nurse of the Year Award Tuesday, April 18, at the Downers Grove Support Center. Winners were recognized by Advocate's executive leaders at this inaugural event.

"Each of these nurses live out clinical excellence, compassion, patient-centered holistic care and other core values of The Advocate Nurse through the work they do every day," said Susan Campbell, senior vice president and chief nursing officer, Advocate Health Care. "They are our unsung heroes - the heart and soul of Advocate Health Care."

Gleason has been an oncology nurse for more than 25 years.

More than 1,000 nurses from Advocate Health Care's hospitals, home health care, support center and medical offices were nominated for the award. Nominations were submitted by physicians and associates, including many non-nursing associates, to recognize Advocate nurses who empower, serve and thrive. These nominations were vetted and presented in blinded format to site-based review committees who scored each according to a metric that took into account each nominee's passion for patient care, commitment to service, problem-solving abilities and leadership aptitude.

The winners are nurses from a variety of specialties across the patient care continuum who represent diversity in their backgrounds and experiences; some are veteran nurses with more than 30 years of experience while others are relatively new to Advocate or to the nursing profession yet have already made an impact on their patients and colleagues.