Chamberlain Nurse Honored as Distinguished Caregiver

Chamberlain College of Nursing graduate Ebony Stewart ’14, BSN, RN has been honored with the Distinguished Caregiver Award from Wolfson Children’s Hospital in Jacksonville, Fla., a part of the Baptist Health system.

The award recognizes deserving employees who serve Baptist Health’s mission of “providing compassionate, outstanding healthcare to our community.”

In the nomination, Stewart’s colleague recounted how she deescalated a tense situation: “Ebony is a new nurse and did an amazing job with a very ill child and difficult family situation. She demonstrated outstanding compassionate care with great service recovery for a very angry and distraught father.”

The honor comes within Stewart’s first year of nursing – she joined Wolfson’s on the progressive care unit in February 2015. She said she was surprised to find out she had been honored by the hospital.

“There are so many situations like that, and you really don’t think about getting recognized,” she said. “It doesn’t feel like going above and beyond, it’s just doing your job and doing what you need to do to help that patient and their family.”

Stewart said the camaraderie among her team has made her first year at Wolfson’s amazing, and her favorite part of the job is interacting with her young patients.

“Patients become your family at Wolfson’s because they are here for a vast amount of time, or they’re coming and going regularly,” she said. “Seeing these kids be able to get back to their natural selves and smile again is just wonderful.”

Before becoming a nurse, Stewart worked as a surgical tech in the Navy. She loved being in surgery alongside doctors and nurses, but knew she wanted more. She enrolled in the BSN program at Chamberlain’s Jacksonville campus, graduating in October 2014. Stewart is now studying to take the Certified Pediatric Nurse exam, and looking into a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner program to continue her education.

“I definitely want to stay with pediatrics,” she said. “That’s my heart. That’s my calling.”

By Danielle Logacho