Good evening – It is with great honor and privilege that I lead us in a toast to recognize and celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Nightingale Awards of PA. For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Barbara Wadsworth, Immediate Past President and member of the Nightingale Awards of Pennsylvania Board of Trustees. I am elated to be here tonight, to give this toast, and to see all of the amazing healthcare professionals that reaffirm my passion as a nurse. I want to mention Barbara Tachofsky, our longest serving board member – 22 years….Barbara is unable to be with us tonight and she wanted us to know how passionate she is about the work we do and nursing….

In my time as a nurse, I have had the opportunity and privilege to heal, help, and get to know my patients throughout the years. Let me just say that I love being a nurse. I love that every day presents an opportunity for me to serve others, and to help those in need, and to provide care to those who need it most. As with all nurse leaders, we do our work through and with others. I can see in all of you tonight, in the eyes and faces of my colleagues, that you all share my passion for helping others. You know that hard work pays off, that your compassion compels, and that being kind matters. Nursing is hard, it’s hard work. It is with great pride that we, together, honor our hard work. We are here because we are nurses and we do the work. And the best part of our job, is that were kind while doing it. Being kind matters, even when it’s hard, especially when it’s hard. Nurses keep going, you all do, nurses are some of the most hardworking individuals in any profession. Thank you for all the long hours you’ve put in, thank you for the strides you make to care for patients, and thank you for making me proud to be a nurse. I find no greater honor than to be surrounded by such pinnacles of the nursing profession. In all of you I find my passion for healthcare and serving those in need reaffirmed ten-fold. As nurses we are counted on constantly, at all hours, to be stalwart, professional, and compassionate. But more so than that, nurses are trusted. We are counted on to be trusted, trusted by our patients, doctors, and fellow nurses.  As you know, nursing has topped the list of 22 professions voted the most trusted profession for the past 16 years by Gallop poll and in 2019, 84% of respondents rated nurses very high for honesty and ethical standards leading the pack by a wide margin. I espouse to you today what I have witnessed through the amazing stories I have heard for so many years in our industry. I see it here tonight amongst the faces of friends and family. We may not have met yet but we nurses are a family, a family built on trust, empathy, unwavering compassion and hard work. Let me just say that you’ve earned this, go ahead, raise those glasses up, every nurse here.  

Your composure, poise, and willingness to serve as healthcare professionals brings me great joy, and reaffirms that my passion for patients is reflected in hospitals and nurses everywhere.

We are trusted to provide care, offer counsel, and most of all help others. Everyone in this room is here for a reason, already affirmed or to be recognized as a beacon of nursing excellence. I am honored to share this room, and this toast, with such an esteemed group of nurses that I can trust and that can be trusted to serve any patient. I welcome you all to this, our 30th Anniversary of the Nightingale Awards of Pennsylvania. May this toast ring loud and true for nursing professionals everywhere as we honor our past nominees, recipients and those nominated for the 2019 awards. A special thank you to our founder Jayne Felgen, and my fellow speakers. Cheers to you all.