Sinai Hospital Celebrates National Nurses Week with Olympic-Themed Closing Ceremony and Awards Presentation
What: In honor of National Nurses Week, (May 6 -12), Patient Care Services teams at Sinai Hospital and Grace Medical Center are in the Olympic spirit with a series of festive and fun events to honor and celebrate these amazing healthcare teams. As part of the celebration, 45 nursing teams decorated colorful flags to showcase their unit, and these flags have been on display in an “Olympic Village” where the weeklong celebration concludes with a special closing ceremony May 10. During the event, University of Maryland nursing student Elizabeth Sebastiao will receive the first ever Diane Johnson Nursing Advancement Scholarship for her work and commitment to the profession.
Diane Johnson was an award-winning Sinai Hospital nurse, who dedicated more than forty years to the profession and who served as Sinai’s chief nursing officer for nearly a quarter century. She passed away from breast cancer in 2023. In recognition of her incredible service to Sinai, the nursing community and the patients she served, Sinai Hospital and her family created the scholarship to provide annual tuition assistance to an underrepresented nursing student with significant financial need and who is currently enrolled in one of an approved list of nursing schools in Maryland.
A panel of educators at each school evaluated dozens of candidates, with a team of Sinai nurses selecting the scholarship recipient. Elizabeth’s application stood out for her perseverance in overcoming some personal challenges in pursuit of her nursing degree, as well as her character, positive demeanor and work ethic. Elizabeth says she wants to provide accessible disease prevention education to families of all cultural backgrounds. She will receive $5,000 to be paid directly toward her tuition and be recognized at Friday’s closing ceremony by Kelli Johnson, Diane’s daughter.
In addition to the scholarship announcement, the program will include award presentations in ten categories of nurses at the hospital, including Nurse of the Year, Technician of the Year and more. Along with the closing ceremony, Sinai Nurses Week events included an opening ceremony with flag parade, an ice-cream social, nursing Olympic-inspired games, photo booth, Baltimore-themed dinner, poster presentations, motivational speaker, education expo, caring cart rounds for day and night shift staff, and more. Nurses Week is a national observance that concludes on May 12, the birthday of Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing.
When: Friday, May 10, 2024, 2 p.m. – 4 p.m. (Diane Johnson scholarship leads the program) Media are invited to come as early at 1:15 to speak with Elizabeth, Kelli and Sinai nurses about the scholarship and the importance of National Nurses Week
Where: Sinai Hospital 2401 W. Belvedere Avenue, Baltimore 21215
Contact: Theo Hayes, 443-425-6324, thayes3@lifebridgehealth.org