Stony Brook Nursing Honored at Nassau-Suffolk Hospital Council Nurse of Excellence Awards

Two members of the Stony Brook Medicine nursing community were honored by their peers at the Nurse of Excellence Award Ceremony hosted September 29 by the Nassau-Suffolk Hospital Council (NSHC).

Ann-Margaret Dunn Navarra, associate dean for nursing research and innovation at the Stony Brook University School of Nursing, took the top honor for nursing education excellence. Lisa McCarthy Clark, pediatric nurse practitioner at Stony Brook University Hospital, received the top nursing leadership award.

Navarra was recognized for outstanding leadership and clinical practice and became the fourth consecutive winner from the School of Nursing. Faculty who demonstrate excellence in education are nominated for the award by deans of Long Island schools of nursing.

“I am truly honored and humbled to receive this award,” said Navarra. “Accepting it comes with a responsibility to persevere in excellence on behalf of the nursing profession and the communities we serve. I sincerely thank the NSHC committee members and extend my congratulations to the nominees and other award recipients.”

Read more about Navarra at the School of Nursing website.

McCarthy Clark has practiced in the newborn nursery for more than 30 years. She developed a care pathway for newborns who have been exposed to intrauterine substances and develop Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome, presenting the topic nationally and abroad. Additionally, she has contributed to such global initiatives as Helping Babies Breathe Better program in Sudan and as a lead instructor for the STABLE neonatal resuscitation program both in the United States and Ireland.

Twenty-three nominees were selected from a pool of nearly 500 nurses at Long Island teaching institutions and hospitals. The Hospital Council’s annual salute to nurses is fashioned after the New York State Legislature’s Nurse of Distinction Program that ended in 1995. NSHC is one of the few hospital associations in the state to continue this program voluntarily. The NSHC represents Long Island’s not-for-profit and public hospitals.