When ajcjobs and The Atlanta Journal- Constitution decided to honor nurses who go above and beyond the call of duty to take care of their patients, we had no idea that the response would be so great. We received 237 nominations for the first ajcjobs Nursing Excellence Awards. Because the nursing profession is filled with skilled, compassionate and caring people, it was hard for the independent panel of judges to narrow the nominees down to 10 finalists. From these finalists, three top honorees - Ann Bonislawski, Todd Crim and Cynthia Shell - were named at a luncheon on May 10. All of the nurses who were honored and the people who nominated them had great stories to tell.

ANN BONISLAWSKI: LILBURN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Those who think school nurses deal only with cuts, scrapes and sniffles need to work a day with Ann Bonislawski, RN - or "Mrs. B," as she's known to her young patients.

There are children with spina bifida who must be catheterized at school and children with diabetes, asthma and other chronic conditions. She once cared for a student with a skull fracture from a playground accident, and she recently recognized that a child thought to have behavioral problems was having seizures.

"It's a lot more than putting on Band-Aids and checking for head lice," said Bonislawski, 59, who has been the school nurse at Lilburn Elementary School for 20 years.

Bonislawski is the only health care provider that many of the 1,200 kids from this high-achieving - yet diverse and largely low-income - school have ever known, said Gael Goin, a special education teacher from the school.

Along with her medical services, Bonislawski "also dispenses another kind of healing - the kind of healing that comes from the heart and strengthens the soul. To each and every child she comes in contact with, she gives hugs, kindness, love and above all, hope," Goin said.

As a child, Bonislawski had two important nursing role models: her aunt and Mrs. Culp, her school nurse.

"Mrs. Culp was the sweetest person. I can still see her smiling, jolly face," Bonislawski said. "Following in my Aunt Marie's footsteps to become a nurse was the best thing I ever did."

Bonislawski started her nursing career at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia and then worked for five years in labor and delivery at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta before working in a private obstetrician's office. She took the job at Lilburn Elementary when her daughter went to first grade.

"The kids are the greatest thing about this job. You constantly get a new perspective on things, depending on what they say. We're the ones getting the education," she said with a laugh. "Working with children not only keeps you young, it keeps you alive."

Bonislawski finds each child "an angel in his own way," but collectively the diverse population is a challenge.

"We're seeing children with more medical problems. They had little health care in their native countries, and parents don't know what's available here," she said. "We have resources. We know how to help them, so that's what we need to do."

A staff fund supplies eyeglasses for children. Bonislawski helps families find doctors, drives them to appointments and interprets during visits. When she can't get in touch with a parent or when a mother can't leave work, she cares for the child in the clinic.

A child with a limp caused by scar tissue from an auto accident now has a brace and can run, thanks to surgery and Bonislawski's intervention. Knowing that a little girl with diabetes feels "different," Bonislawski will drive the child to diabetes camp this summer to meet other children coping with the disease.

"This is a wonderful place to be a nurse because you know you're making a difference in the lives of children," Bonislawski said. "Doing good, having a positive effect on someone's life: That's why we're here."

- Laura Raines

TODD CRIM: GRADY MEMORIAL HOSPITAL

In the intensive care unit at Grady Memorial Hospital, Todd Crim, RN, is known as the "Energizer bunny" because he never stops caring for his patients. When her mother was in ICU, Neko Harvey saw Crim put that nickname into action.

"You really never had to ask him to do anything because he took care of her just that well," Harvey said.

Although a nurse for 10 years, Crim's "work performance each day resembles that of a new employee trying to impress the boss and/or his peers," she added.

With good communication, math and science skills and a desire to help people, Crim, 40, got his first taste of nursing as a hospital corpsman in the military. He said it changed his life and taught him discipline, attention to detail and professional standards.

"I learned that even out of uniform, I'm the same person," Crim said.

After military service, he became a corrections officer. Interacting with prisoners every day led Crim to think about life choices, and he realized that nursing was a tool that would let him help people and make a difference. "Nursing has to be in your heart," said Crim. "You can't get in it for the money or glory, because there's a lot of sacrifice in it."

Crim went into a licensed practical nursing program and then earned his RN degree from Christ Hospital School of Nursing in Jersey City, N.J.

He worked as a med-surge nurse and a nurse manager while volunteering with youths at The League Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Crim has always enjoyed working with children. As a male nurse, he strives to be a good role model and encourages children to see the job opportunities in health care. His daughter plans to follow in her dad's footsteps in the profession. After moving to Atlanta, Crim became a staff nurse at Grady Memorial Hospital's intensive care unit.

"I took a step backward in order to move forward in my career," he said. "Grady seemed like a place to grow, and ICU turns the knobs up in intensity. Your patients are more critical, and you see everything. I learn something new every day."

He likes making a difference in the lives of his patients and their families.

"You watch the faces of family members as the doctor is talking to them and realize that they're only taking in about 10 percent of it," Crim said. "Good communication - we need more of that in today's world - so you try and help them understand what is going on and give them realistic hopes. Realistic, because you know the outcome could go either way. It's a hard job."

"Whenever my family had questions about my mother, he was always available to answer us," Harvey said. "He was very involved and treated her with respect, compassion and, in my opinion, like she was his own mother."

Crim likes the challenge of an everchanging work environment and keeps his energy level high through exercise and spending time with his family. "I'm glad I'm in nursing," he said. "I've seen changes in myself and grown as a person because of it."

- Laura Raines

CYNTHIA SHELL: PORTSBRIDGE HOSPICE

Dying of cancer, Stephanie Phillips, 18, was determined to do everything she could in her last six months. She partied in Athens and went to the beach with friends with the full blessing and support of her hospice nurse, Cynthia Shell, 40, RN, BSN, CHPN.

"Right from the start she [Shell] went above and beyond," said Patti Phillips, Stephanie's mother. "She always talked to Steph, listened to her concerns and was there for her 24/7."

The family was supposed to call Portsbridge Hospice when they had a need, but Shell gave Stephanie her cell number. When Stephanie called, Shell came to help, even during a weekend ice storm on one occasion.

Shell was there one night talking and giving medication. When Shell asked if she should stay, Stephanie gave her a thumbs-up sign, sent her home and died in her sleep.

"When I first saw Steph, she was so beautiful, so young, and I thought she hadn't had a chance to live, but she packed more living into 18 years than I have into 40, and she had incredible grace to deal with it," Shell said. "I'm forever changed by the time I spent with her."

Shell, 40, originally planned to train in physical therapy, but a friend of her mother suggested she try nursing. "She said I could always go back to PT if I didn't like it, but I've never looked back," Shell said.

She believes God sent her into nursing. Shell first practiced in oncology at Piedmont Hospital and was part of a nursing pool for Shepherd Spinal Center before becoming a hospice nurse eight years ago.

"People told me that this job would kill me and that I'd lose all my nursing skills, but it's been just the opposite," she said. "Before, nursing was what I did; now it's who I am. It's shaped my life."

Shell has seen a different side of nursing.

"My patients aren't seeing doctors anymore, so I'm the one assessing, and I'm using everything I was ever taught in all my other nursing roles and thank God for it," Shell said. "I feel like a real nurse in the holistic sense."

Her patients have ranged from just a few months old to 107. She gives all her patients the same level of care, and she values having the time to educate and encourage their families.

"You don't take hope away, but you have to give them realistic answers as to why things are happening," she said. To Shell, it's an honor and a privilege to be a part of someone's life for a short time and to help the family cope with death. It gives her incentive to live each day as fully as she can.

"If this job were about death and dying, I couldn't do it," she said. "But hospice is about living every day you have - and what can I do to help you?"

- Laura Raines

GLENDA ADAMS: FAMILY PRACTICE ASSOCIATES

Living in a small town has its advantages. The pace is slower, and most people know one another.

For nearly 11 years, Glenda Adams, RN, has been the triage nurse for Dr. Richard Eaton at Family Practice Associates in Folkston, but her roots in the community go back to grade school. She grew up in the South Georgia town.

From greeting people she sees in the grocery store to helping with the community's Relay for Life American Cancer Society fund-raiser, she has touched the lives of many of the town's residents.

For one in particular, the 56-yearold Adams holds a special place. Della Harden was a patient in the practice, but when she became pregnant she was referred to an area obstetrician.

"This past year I found out that I was pregnant - at 38 - with twins who were, most probably, Down syndrome babies, and I was scared," Harden said. "Mrs. Adams gave me her number and told me to call if I needed anything. I called her many times, and she never seemed to get frustrated."

When Harden entered the hospital for the delivery, her husband called family and friends, including Adams. She returned the call while Harden was in the delivery room.

"When I heard the voice of that precious nurse telling me that things were going to be all right, I cannot begin to tell you how much comfort that gave me," Harden said.

Her twins were born with mild Down syndrome but are doing well.

For Adams, nursing has always been a calling, although she did venture into real estate sales for a couple of years.

"During that time, I realized that nursing was what I really wanted to do, and I've been doing it for 31 years," she said. "Most of the time I go home at night and feel good about what I've done that day."

- Pamela A. Keene

BETTYE CANTRELL: SOUTHERN HOME CARE SERVICES

In many ways, home health care nurse Bettye Cantrell, RN, is like a mother to young Zaccur Kellam. Born on April 17, 2002, and weighing less than 2 pounds, Zaccur had nine surgeries during his first eight months of life. When Zaccur came home to his family on Dec. 11, 2002, Cantrell was assigned to his case because he still needed around-theclock care.

"Bettye gave Zaccur the love and care he needed, above and beyond what a normal nurse would. I knew God assigned her for our case," said Zaccur's father, Damien Kellam of McDonough.

Now 4, Zaccur continues to need care, including help with his feeding and breathing tubes and speech and physical therapy. For Cantrell, nursing is more than her job.

"This doesn't seem like work to me," she said. "It's a calling. I love working with the babies."

Cantrell, 64, has spent most of her 40-plus years as a nurse working with babies and children. A graduate of DeKalb Community College and the Grady School of Nursing in the 1960s, she has practiced in Florida, California and Georgia, working in hospitals and in home health care.

When she moved to Henry County in 2002, she took a job with Southern Home Care Services as a private duty nurse. Zaccur was one of her first cases.

Cantrell, who lives in Stockbridge, has four grown sons and three grandchildren. Although she's close to retirement age, Cantrell isn't really interested in leaving her job.

"I'm going to stay with Zaccur until he's released from Southern Home Care," she said. "To see that little chubby baby grow into a toddler who's so energetic, he's wonderful."

- Pamela A. Keene

DAWN CARVER: CHILDREN'S HEALTHCARE OF ATLANTA

Ryan Morgan has spent many days at the Aflac Cancer Center at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. As the 7-year-old from Winder awaited a tandem stem cell transplant to treat his cancer last year, Ryan and his parents got to know many of the nurses, including Dawn Carver, RN, BSN.

"Dawn was so compassionate to Ryan and to us," said Missy Morgan, Ryan's mom. "She always knew just what to say to make us feel hopeful that he would get better. When one medicine didn't provide him relief, she would find something else that would work."

Carver, 33, works with the young cancer patients at Children's. She joined the hospital staff right after graduating from the Georgia State University School of Nursing and has worked there for 11 years.

"It's a blessing and an honor for me to help these kids and their families," Carver said. "I've never considered doing anything else but being a nurse."

Carver grew up in Duluth and attended the University of Georgia before getting her nursing degree from Georgia State. As a pediatric oncology nurse, she works closely with patients and families during their cancer treatments. "The survival rate is quite high, especially with the improved treatment techniques and continuing research," she said.

Carver has volunteered for the last eight years as a camp counselor at Camp Sunshine, a summer program for youngsters with cancer.

"When I go there, I'm their camp counselor, not their nurse," Carver said. "I get to see these youngsters in a different light, and they get to see me outside the hospital."

"She greets every day with a smile and a positive, upbeat attitude," Morgan said. "That's like a breath of fresh air for the fragile patients and parents on the Aflac cancer floor.

- Pamela A. Keene

BILLIE DAVIS: NEWNAN HOSPITAL

Billie Davis, RN, BSN, M.Ed., chose nursing in the 1960s, when women were more limited in their career choices.

Since her first job on a surgical floor at Hall County Hospital in Gainesville, Davis has worked in intensive care, coronary critical care, the emergency room, the recovery room, in a long-term health care setting and for a home health agency. She has also taught in a college's licensed practical nurse program and still provides clinical training to nursing students.

Davis, 62, knows that what's taught in nursing school isn't all that's needed once nurses enter the real world of health care.

"When I graduated, there were a lot of older, seasoned nurses - and doctors, too - who would take you under their wing and teach you because they knew nursing was a team effort," Davis said. "New technologies are saving time, money and lives, but many older nurses are retiring and aren't there to teach the new graduates."

As someone who educates patients and staff at Newnan Hospital, Davis is helping to fill that gap.

"In the hectic and bustling age of technology, the science of nursing too often overshadows the art of the profession, " said Tara Cassidy, RN, BSN, MPH, who nominated Davis. "White caps, starched uniforms, unrivaled work ethic and unrelenting devotion to patient care and patient advocacy are almost an ideal of the past."

That ideal is alive and well with Davis, who believes that it takes "humility, caring and knowledge to be a nurse."

Whenever Davis felt herself growing stale in her job, she figured she needed to grow.

"It's scary, but when you take yourself out of your comfort zone and advance a little, things get exciting, and you become a great nurse again," she said.

- Laura Raines

CINDY DEMINSKY: ATLANTA CANCER CENTER

From her first contact with the oncology unit at St. Joseph's Hospital in Atlanta, Cindy Deminsky, RN, OCN, saw something "unique and different going on between patients and nurses" and knew that caring for cancer patients was her niche.

An oncology nurse since 1995, Deminsky delivers chemotherapy treatments and cancer education and handles phone triage for patients between their visits to Atlanta Cancer Care.

"People ask me how I could work in oncology ... 'Isn't it depressing and hard when people don't get well?' It's draining but also the most rewarding place to be in nursing," she said.

Deminsky, 46, gets excited when new research and treatments make it possible to heal patients who wouldn't have had a chance before.

"When someone really listens, people open up and ask what they really want to know," Deminsky said.

Patient Sara Zirkel called Deminsky a "one-of-a-kind cancer care nurse. For anyone who has ever had to deal with a life-threatening and life-altering disease, the days you go for treatment are some of the most emotional and difficult of your life."

Having a nurse who really empathizes and asks about your life before and after cancer makes a difference during a treatment session, she added.

Administering chemotherapy is dif- ficult because "people are sad, worried, scared, depressed and often sick, sick, sick," Zirkel said. "Not getting burnedout, not leaving to do something more cheerful, always being available with a smile - that's a hard job. And Cindy does it with sheer grace."

Patients give just as much back to Deminsky.

"They've taught me how fragile life really is and how to live each day with purpose and meaning."

- Laura Raines

TOM PLANTE: WELLSTAR KENNESTONE HOSPITAL

Sitting beside his father's hospital bed about a year ago, Mike Hines and his family knew that time was short. It was difficult, but, because of one of the nurses at WellStar Kennestone Hospital in Marietta, the Hines family was prepared.

"Not many days pass that I don't think about my father [Don Mitchell Hines], but I also think about a very special person who cared for him in intensive care," Hines said. "Tom Plante also cared for our family in our time of need, showing compassion beyond belief. "

Plante, RN, who works in the coronary care unit at Kennestone, has been a nurse for 11 years. He didn't initially plan to be a nurse.

"Nursing chose me," said Plante, who had a 14-year career in printing. "When the recession hit in the printing business, I decided to go back to school to be an X-ray technician. I signed up for all the allied health courses, and the nursing school called me with an opening, so that's what I did."

After graduating, Plante, 47, moved to Georgia and began working at Kennestone. He plans to work in the coronary care unit until he retires.

"There's such a cohesive group of co-workers here and exceptional management, " he said. "We work as a team and just know what to expect from each other. I can't be the nurse I am without my co-workers."

Hines nominated Plante for the Nursing Excellence Awards.

"I saw Tom's true character when he began to tear up as he told us that we were in the final minutes of my father's life," Hines said. "Tom is a real man. It was hard losing my dad, but Tom made it a positive experience in humanity and renewed my faith in the spirit of each and every person. He affirms in me that nurses have something special."

- Pamela A. Keene

CONNIE WHITTINGTON: PIEDMONT HOSPITAL

Piedmont Hospital nurse Connie Whittington, MSN, RN, ONC, always seems willing to go the distance. A member of Smyrna First Methodist Church, she uses her vacation time to accompany the youth choir on its summer tour.

When Evelyn Thompson fell and broke her hip, Whittington played a special role in getting her settled back at home after she was released from Piedmont Hospital.

"She should have been off duty at 3:30 p.m., but I wasn't dismissed until 6 p.m., and Connie waited with my daughter to take me home," Thompson said. "She didn't leave until she made sure I had everything I needed and continued to check on me on her own time until I could be on my own. I don't know what I would have done without her."

Whittington, 54, graduated from the Piedmont Hospital School of Nursing in 1972. Most of her career has been spent as an orthopedic nurse, but she has worked in intensive care, in the emergency room and in surgery.

She also has developed several orthopedic education and community programs.

Until recently, Whittington worked as an orthopedic resource nurse, interacting with patients and staff and creating programs to help improve the hospital's clinical practices.

Two months ago, Whittington was promoted to director of nursing systems.

"I make it my business every day to visit at least three nursing stations and see at least two patients," Whittington said. "Bedside care is the most important aspect of nursing."

"Connie does wonderful things for so many people beyond what she does as a nurse," Thompson said.

- Pamela A. Keene