Rehab nurse wins McHugh LTC nursing award

Santhamma Varghese, RN, a clinical nurse manager at Bon Secours New York Health System’s Schervier Nursing Care Center in Riverdale, N.Y., has won the Joan Anne McHugh Nurse of Distinction award from LeadingAge. The award, now in its 8th year, honors excellence and leadership in long-term care nursing.

Varghese has cared for rehabilitation residents at the not-for-profit facility for more than 20 years, and currently serves as the clinical nurse manager of Schervier’s orthopedic rehabilitation unit.

Varghese’s peers nominated her because of her dedication to the care field and her focus on person-centered care. “Santhamma is an extremely skilled nurse clinician, leading our interdisciplinary care team in monitoring residents’ plan of care from admission to discharge, and wholeheartedly provides compassion and high quality care,” said Olivia Babol-Ibe, Director of Nursing at Schervier. “She takes the time to individually meet with each resident and their families to proactively discuss and create a personalized care plan, based on what is best for each resident’s health and happiness. The unit’s very high resident satisfaction scores and quality indicators are indicative of her dedication and hard work.”

Varghese will receive $1,000 for professional development and will be honored at the 2013 LeadingAge annual meeting next month in Dallas.

Pamela Tabar

Pamela Tabar was editor-in-chief of I Advance Senior Care from 2013-2018. She has worked as a writer and editor for healthcare business media since 1998, including as News Editor of Healthcare Informatics. She has a master’s degree in journalism from Kent State University and a master’s degree in English from the University of York, England.