Two Yale nurses have been honored for their consistent excellence in the promotion or delivery of care for people with chronic illness and their families.
Linda Honan Pellico and Geralyn R. Spollett received Excellence in Caring in Chronic Illness Awards from the School of Nursing's Center for Excellence in Chronic Illness Care on Feb. 26.
Pellico is an assistant professor at the School of Nursing who has taught in the Graduate Entry Prespecialty in Nursing Program since 1989, and has served as director and curriculum coordinator of the program. She developed a statewide public education program called "Have Bones, Will Travel," which introduces elementary schoolchildren to human anatomy while emphasizing health and safety. In 2003, she spearheaded the development of an annual creative writing award for student nurses and created the book "Do you see what I see?" a compilation of years of students' journaling and historical photographs.
The citation for Pellico's award reads, in part: "For many people, she is the face of nursing: the vivacious lady of 'Have Bones, Will Travel' who teaches anatomy and safety to schoolchildren; the mother, drill sergeant and philosopher who guides bright and overwhelmed new students into the profession; and the nurse who can decode a thousand complexities to get patients the most effective possible care -- and somehow make them laugh while she is doing it. ... By introducing creative writing into the curriculum, she gave her students the opportunity to reflect deeply on their own struggles and those of their patients. Their essays and poems are creating a body of work that tells nursing's story to the public in a way that is moving and, like her, unrelentingly honest. ... She has shown Yale students and the world what a nurse should be: someone generous enough to devote her whole mind and whole heart to the care of a stranger. Someone brave enough to stand a bureaucracy on its ear, yet always humble enough to listen."
Spollett is an adult nurse practitioner and associate director of the Yale Diabetes Center affiliated with the Yale School of Medicine Faculty Practice. She is an active member of the American Diabetes Association, currently serving on its board of directors, and of the American Association of Diabetes Educators. An editor of Diabetes Spectrum and chair of the National Certification Board for Diabetes Educators, her contributions are frequently recognized, most recently by the American Diabetes Association, which named her "Outstanding Diabetes Educator" in 2006. She was also chosen by nursing students to receive the School of Nursing's Annie Goodrich Teaching Award.
Spollet's citation reads, in part: "Whether she is delivering insulin to a housebound patient or editing an international journal, she is acting on her core belief: that people with diabetes should be empowered to live healthy and full lives and that this empowering care should be available to everyone, even the most vulnerable of patients. That belief led her to pioneer patient-centered education programs and a diabetes outreach program for underserved populations."
Following a summary of Spollet's training and achievements, the citation continues, "The patients at the Wampanoag tribal clinic where she travels monthly do not know about these credentials. The New Haveners who learn to manage their diabetes through her classes do not know about these credentials. They only know that Gerry Spollett helps them lead healthier and fuller lives."
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IN MEMORIAM
B. Davie Napier: Former Yale trustee, professor and preacher
James B. Crowley: Specialist in the history of modern Japan
Paul Sevier Minear: A leading scholar of the New Testament
Kathryn Perrone: Assistant to the president
Campus Notes
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