HMO Nurses Honored Ahead of International Nurses Day

To mark International Nurses Day on Tuesday, May 12, Hadassah, The Women's Zionist Organization of America, awarded prizes to nine outstanding Hadassah Medical Organization (HMO) nurses at the Above and Beyond ceremony at Hadassah Hospital Mount Scopus. The nurses recognized at the ceremony, which took place on the Monday prior, are from many different departments and have gone beyond their shift duties to provide extra hours and empathetic care, including by moving patients in wartime.

An additional prize, the Nancy Falchuk Outstanding Nursing Award — donated by former National President Nancy Falchuk, herself a nurse and strong supporter of the nursing program — was awarded to Pnina Sharon, director of the Internal Medicine, Emergency Department and Emergency Preparedness Division at Hadassah Hospital Ein Kerem.

"I want to thank Hadassah nurses in the name of Hadassah National President Carol Ann Schwartz, former National President Nancy Falchuk and 300,000 Hadassah members," Gidon Melmed, executive director of the Hadassah Offices in Israel, told the large audience of Hadassah staff, families and particularly the award recipients. "You are the heart and soul of the lifesaving work done here at Hadassah. Thank you for your work, your humanity and for going above and beyond."

The event, organized by Rely Alon, HMO's director of the Division of Nursing & Health Professions, highlighted the professionalism, compassion and dedication of Hadassah's nurses.

Alon told the prize winners: "You prove every day that there is no summit we cannot reach. Thank you for your outstanding dedication and your ability to touch people's lives. You are an anchor of humanity, compassion, and security to all who enter Hadassah's gates."

"You can be proud of Hadassah, and it's all because of you," said Prof. Yoram Weiss, director general of HMO. "Nursing is critical to patient treatment safety but also to the quality of care the patient receives. Hadassah is for the benefit of everyone, every patient at every moment, every hour — this is the uniqueness of Hadassah, and for this I'm grateful."

The keynote speaker was Prof. Dina Ben Yehuda, head of the Hematology Division at Hadassah, who lectured on medicine in the age of artificial intelligence. She was among the torchlighters in this year’s Independence Day ceremony. She assured the nurses and doctors in the audience that AI would never replace them, because a computer — no matter how kind its words — can never deliver their empathy and reassurance.

Hadassah Mount Scopus was festively decorated to honor HMO nurses.

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