Bremerton, WA–Every night Nelson Monastrial works his shift at Harrison Medical Center, he delivers on an enormous promise: That of making a positive difference in people’s lives through exceptional healthcare. Now that recognition extends to being honored as the outstanding nurse for patient/clinical care by the Western Washington Chapter of the March of Dimes.

Nelson was nominated by one of his staff nurses here at Harrison. “I work the night shift with Nelson on a regular basis,” the nomination began, which underscored the staff member’s level of interaction with him. “I experienced the potent force that is Nelson Monastrial one night several weeks ago,” the nurse explained.

Typically, afternoons and early evenings are very busy times on a nursing floor and on this one particular night, the admissions of several critically ill patients presented a daunting situation to even the most experienced of care staff. Yet, as the nurse explained, Nelson’s constant presence inspires his team.

“Upon arriving on the unit to work I found (our team in) a situation struggling to cope with…late day shift admissions and transfers. Because of Nelson's familiarity with the staff, and his feel for the dynamics of staff on the floor he was able to immediately step in…(he) reassigned one of the patients and took another one himself… It was an extremely busy shift but all patients received excellent patient care and there was even time to address very complex family dynamics with one of our patients.”

“Nelson has an amazing and innate gift to guide the floor without anyone even realizing he is doing this. In short, Nelson serves. He is an excellent example of what is finest about Harrison Medical Center… He touches patients, families and staffs lives in ways that they are mostly unaware of…Nelson has helped literally thousands of people who never knew him with his quiet fortitude and selflessness.”

Nelson and seven others were nominated by their Harrison colleagues, representing the largest group submitted for consideration in this award in recent memory. They are:

• D’enne Boles
• Lois Brogan
• Pat Clemetson
• Lynn Ferrell
• Summer Fosdick
• Cherie Pittard
• Sylvia Thomas

We congratulate Nelson and his colleagues for this distinguished honor,” said Scott Bosch, CEO. “To me, it recognizes that our nursing teams at Harrison possess outstanding clinical skills and offer compassionate care daily. They live our mission statement and this truly makes a positive difference to the community we serve.”