UTHSC News: Eighth-Annual NightinGala Celebrates Nursing

About 250 people celebrated nursing on May 3 at the eighth-annual NightinGala and Nurse Hero Awards. The program was presented by the University of Tennessee Health Science Center's College of Nursing at the Great Hall and Conference Center in Germantown.

The college hosts the event each year to launch the celebration of National Nurses Week, May 6-12. WMC News Anchor Joe Birch emceed the awards program, and UT Health Science Center Chancellor Peter Buckley, MD, also attended and spoke at the event.

"We consider it a privilege to offer this event each year to honor excellent nurses in our own community and to recognize the importance of the nursing profession in all communities," said College of Nursing Dean Wendy Likes, PhD, DNSc, APRN-BC, FAANP, FAAN.

Event sponsors included St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Baptist Memorial Health Care, Regional One Health, Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare, and West Cancer Center and Research Institute.

Zenobia Harris, DNP, MPH, BSN, of Little Rock, Ark., received the Dr. John W. Runyan, Jr., Community Nursing Award for her work with the Arkansas Birthing Project. Established in 1979, the Runyan Award recognizes a registered nurse practicing in Tennessee, Mississippi, or Arkansas, who has made significant contributions to the development and promotion of community health nursing. Dr. Harris is the executive director of the Arkansas Birthing Project and a retired public health nurse in Arkansas.

Read more at our UTHSC news site.