2006 Inspired Comfort Award Grand Prize Winner — Advanced Practice Nurse Category

Nomination

Recipient:	James Bowers, RN, BSN, CNOR 2006 Cherokee Inspired Comfort Award Top National Winner RN Category
Job Title:	Night Shift Operating Room Charge Nurse
Employer:	West Virginia University Hospital Morgantown, WV
Nominated by:	Jennifer Malcolm
Employer:	West Virginia University Hospital
Title:	Certified Surgical Tech

To Whom It May Concern:

Let me tell you about a nurse that I work with and what he does outside of work to help promote excellent care to others and his profession. Jay works all year round collecting food and other items for the Diabetes Camp of West Virginia, — Camp Kno-Koma . Camp Kno-Koma is a non-profit organization that holds a week long summer camp for children with diabetes the chance to go a week long summer camp and just be a kid, do what other kids do at summer camps that they might never get to do because of their diabetes. This camp is special because each cabin has at least one Registered Nurse to ensure that the children get the most out of their experience, while learning about their diabetes in a medically safe environment. So after spending a year collecting snack items, craft items and money to help send the kids to camp, Jay takes a week of his vacation and attends the camp as one of the cabin nurses.

This past year after Hurricane Katrina, Jay collected personal items, scrub suits, uniforms and money for the nurses that were affected by the Hurricane. When it was decided that a portion of the Hurricane victims would be sent to West Virginia and stay at Camp Dawson, Jay worked the clinic in the daytime and at the Hospital in the nighttime. He even took nights and worked the dormitory at nights to ensure that they had around the clock medical coverage. Jay took another week’s vacation and flew to Biloxi, Mississippi. He rented a car and drove to Gulfport, Mississippi to volunteer at a medical clinic that had been set up in a local church there. While in Gulfport he not only worked the clinic, but he also went out in to the community and passed out much needed supplies and even made house calls to those patients who could not get to the clinic for medical attention.

Now if all of the above does not prove that Jay is a very caring Nurse let me tell you a little about his involvement in his professional organizations. In 199 he was the first male nurse to be elected to position of President of the Association of Operation Room Nurses of North Central West Virginia, and the first to go from President to past-president elect of AORNB of North Central West Virginia. In 2004 he was elected to the National AORN Orthopedic Special Assembly newsletter editor. In 2005 he was elected as the national AORN Chair of the Trauma Special Assembly, and asked by the national President of AORN to sit on a task force to help bring nursing to the attention of grade/high school students as a career choice. After completion on this task force ahead of schedule, he has been asked to sit on the National AORN Membership task force. He has also been asked to sit on the National question review committee for the Competency and Credentialing Institute — CCI , which reviews questions for Certification Exam of Operation Room Nurses.

From our conversations he has served on many other committees on the local, Sate and National level. He is very involved in his professional organizations, and volunteers for several organizations that promote health and wellness not only in his own community, but nationally as well.

The other day I overheard a nurse say that Jay is very passionate about his nursing, and that is why, if any family member of hers were going to have surgery she would want him there. I could not state it any better than that. I hope that you will consider Jay for one of the 2006 Cherokee Inspired Comfort Awards.

Sincerely Yours,


Jennifer Malcolm CST

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