Beebe names new nursing awards in honor of Austin, Bushey and Cordrey
Beebe Medical Center recently established nursing awards in honor of three women who collectively have served Beebe for 155 years. Bonnie Austin, Connie Bushey and Eleanor Cordrey received their honors during a celebration in Beebe’s Sunshine Café May 10. The awards celebrate the ideals of scholarship, leadership and excellence and will be presented each year to Beebe nurses who exemplify those ideals.
All three of the recipients are graduates of Beebe School of Nursing.
The Nursing Leadership Award has been named in honor of Austin who graduated in 1962 and immediately began her nursing career at Beebe. She recently celebrated her 50th year at the hospital. During those years she taught pediatric nursing, and other subjects, at Beebe School of Nursing for 31 years. She also went on to receive her Bachelors in Nursing Degree from Wilmington College. She now serves as a nursing supervisor in the hospital. “I may retire some day,” said Austin, “but I’m not ready yet.”
The Nursing Scholarship Award has been named in honor of Connie Bushey, long-time director of Beebe School of Nursing – now the Margaret H. Rollins School of Nursing. Bushey graduated from Beebe School of Nursing in 1968. She went on to earn a bachelor’s degree of science in nursing from University of Iowa, a master’s degree in education from Salisbury University and a master’s degree in nursing from Wilmington University. She has worked as a nurse at Beebe and as director of the nursing school since 1989.
The Nursing Excellence Award has been named in honor of Eleanor Cordrey, a graduate of the Beebe School of Nursing Class of 1951, the same year she started her career at the hospital. Cordrey worked for Beebe for more than 50 years in almost every department. She is known most for her contributions to the women’s health department where she set up the neonatal resuscitation program and labor and delivery programs. She continues to volunteer at Beebe where she fills out birth certificates for new babies.
Paul Minnick, vice president of patient care at Beebe, noted at the ceremony that polls show nursing as the most trusted profession in the nation. “With the nurses we’re honoring, we identified certain patterns of behavior that exemplify the nursing excellence that exists in our nursing culture at Beebe.”
Denise Larson, clinical education specialist at Beebe, was on the committee that helped set up the awards and selected the women for whom they were named.
“The spirit of Florence Nightingale has been in evidence at Beebe for a long time in these ladies,” said Larson.
