Press Release
June 4, 2007
Joseph Ortega Recipient Of Nightingale Award
Joseph Ortega, MA, RN, DPS Nurse at Brown Elementary School, is the recipient of the Colorado Nightingale Award. As a recipient, Ortega received a commemorative Nightingale bronze sculpture crafted by Colorado artist Jan Searle-Kubby. The 22nd Annual Nightingale Awards Statewide Event was held Saturday, May 12, 2007, at the Renaissance Hotel. Kim Christiansen of Channel 9news was master of ceremonies, and notes, "I spend the evening in a room filled with the most kind, compassionate people we will ever meet – nurses, who do their work because they choose to do it, not because they have to." The Nightingale Awards event was founded in 1985 to honor nurses who best exemplify the philosophy and practice of Florence Nightingale, a 19th century nursing pioneer.
The fifteen finalists of the Nightingale Awards were individually recognized at the gala on May 12, 2007. Mr. Ortega was one of the fifteen finalists, from which six nurses were chosen as actual recipients of the Nightingale Award. Donna Shocks, MSN, RN, DPS Nursing Services Manager, was also one of the fifteen finalists. Each of the fifteen finalists had received crystal awards.