Twenty Baylor Health Care System Nurses Honored Among 100 Great Nurses, 2008

Twenty nurses from nine Baylor facilities are among Dallas/Fort Worth's 100 Great Nurses named by the Texas Nurses Association, Districts Three and Four, and Dallas-Fort Worth Nurse Executives.

"I am very proud of these committed and talented nurses," says Rosemary Luquire, R.N., Ph.D., CNAA, FAAN, senior vice president and chief nursing officer, Baylor Health Care System. "These 20 nurses serve as shining examples, demonstrating daily the dedication they give to patients and their nursing practices." 

The honor focuses on the nurses' qualities as role models in leadership, service to the community, compassion as a caregiver, and significant contributions to nursing. 

Those Baylor nurses, all registered nurses, were named 100 Great Nurses:

Baylor All Saints Medical Center at Fort Worth
Glenda Allen Rosales
Sherree Bennett
Marion Kilpatrick Faherty
Patricia Green
Martha Holt
Michelle Marty
Monika Ringo
Christi Stephens
Katherine Suttice 

Baylor Medical Center at Garland
Kay Stubbs 

Baylor Medical Center at Irving
Teresa Cockerill 

Baylor Medical Center at Southwest Fort Worth
Barbara Suber 

Baylor Medical Center at Waxahachie
Cindy Murray 

Baylor Regional Medical Center at Plano
Pleasure Nwachukwu
Gustavo Ortiz 

Baylor Specialty Hospital
Kathy Lockheart 

Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas
Brenda L. Bailey
Valerie Foster
Shadin Hilton 

THE HEART HOSPITAL Baylor Plano
Paul St. Laurent 

The reasons given by the Great 100 for becoming a nurse are as diverse as the nurses themselves. "My mother was a nurse," says Marion Kilpatrick Faherty, R.N., Baylor All Saints Medical Center. "What prompted me to become a nurse was listening to her experiences of hard work, constant learning and tales of that special patient you will never forget." 

"My mother is a nurse and was always very proud of her profession," says Kay Stubbs, R.N., Baylor Medical Center at Garland. "She was an excellent role model – confident, autonomous and compassionate. She enjoyed her practice and had great stories about her days." 

"I can not remember a time when I did not want to be a nurse," recalls Martha Holt, R.N., Baylor Medical Center at Southwest Fort Worth, who knew from childhood she's be a nurse. "The only reply I ever gave to people who asked about my career goals was ‘I want to be a nurse.'" 

"I was born with caring for others in my bones," says Cathy Lockheart, R.N., Baylor Specialty Hospital. "I did not purse nursing, it followed me." 

A positive experience led Valerie Foster, R.N., Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas, into nursing. "When I was in labor with my first child, I had a truly wonderful labor and delivery nurse. She inspired me by her intelligence, knowledge and caring demeanor. I decided to pursue nursing to make a difference in peoples' lives." 

Paul St. Laurent, a nurse practitioner at THE HEART HOSPITAL Baylor Plano, switched from a music career to become a nurse. "Nursing had a lot to offer, including the opportunity to impact others in a positive way. The decision to return to school to pursue nursing was the best decision I ever made." 

Nursing is a second career for Cindy Murray, R.N., Baylor Medical Center at Waxahachie. "I want to make a difference; nursing is the avenue in which I can accomplish this goal." 

"I became a nurse because I've seen the difference a good nurse can make in the lives of patients and their families," says Teresa Cockerill, R.N., Baylor Medical Center at Irving. "My Dad became a heart patient at age 39. He's alive and well today at age 70, but I remember some amazing nurses that were so good and so caring to my Dad." 

"As a nurse not a single day is the same as the one before," says Gustavo Ortiz, R.N., Baylor Regional Medical Center at Plano. "As a nurse you have to be many things at once: provide for the patient's basic needs, comfort patients and families in times of crisis, coordinate the patient care, and have the clinical knowledge that requires constant education and problem-solving every day you work." 

The nurses were honored on Monday, May 12, at the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center. 

Contact: Susan Hall, (214) 820-1817
Email: SusanH@baylorhealth.edu 

About Baylor Scott & White Health
As the largest not-for-profit health system in the state of Texas, Baylor Scott & White promotes the health and well-being of every individual, family and community it serves. It is committed to making quality care more accessible, convenient and affordable through its integrated delivery network, which includes the Baylor Scott & White Health Plan, Baylor Scott & White Research Institute, the Baylor Scott & White Quality Alliance and its leading digital health platform — MyBSWHealth. Through 52 hospitals and more than 1,300 access points, including flagship academic medical centers in Dallas, Fort Worth and Temple, the system offers the full continuum of care, from primary to award-winning specialty care. Founded as a Christian ministry of healing more than a century ago, Baylor Scott & White today serves more than three million Texans. For more information, visit: BSWHealth.com