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ANNUAL AWARDRECIPIENTS HONOURED17Surprise, humility andsincere gratitude wereexpressed by the winnersof the 2007 Awards ofExcellence honoured April 20,2007 at the Annual AwardsBreakfast during the Collegeof Licensed Practical Nursesof Alberta’s (CLPNA) SpringConference. The Awards paytribute to the best in LPN practice,leadership and educationin Alberta. Nominations werereceived from employers andcolleagues, many of whomattended to celebrate with theirnominees during the two-hourceremony. Winners received$1000 and a commemorativecrystal award.In addition to the long-establishedLaura CrawfordExcellence in Practice Award,two new Awards from theCLPNA Council recognizedtheir first recipients. The PatFredrickson Excellence inLeadership Award and theRita McGregor Excellence inEducation Award were namedafter the retired ExecutiveDirector/Registrar and Directorof Practice and Policy of theCLPNA, respectively, to honourtheir 20 years of nursingleadership.The Fredrickson-McGregorEducation Foundation forLPNs (the “Foundation”), is anon-profit society establishedto support members of CLPNAthrough educational grants,bursaries and awards of merit.Information about theFoundation may be found onthe CLPNA’s website atwww.clpna.com under thetopic “Education Foundation”.LAURA CRAWFORDEXCELLENCE IN PRACTICE AWARDThe Laura Crawford Excellence in PracticeAward was presented to Beverly Straus, LPN,Coordinator of The Alex Community HealthBus for the past 4 years. In her acceptancespeech, this “Mom of the streets” spoke passionatelyabout her commitment to providingprimary health services to the disadvantaged,low-income and homeless populations inCalgary. Not surprisingly, Tanya Knorren,Manager of Services of the Alex CommunityHealth Centre, says in her nomination letterthat Bev’s most significant attribute is her“positive attitude and compassion to thisdisadvantaged population”.In addition to her strong nursing knowledge and skills (Bev is also an expert in wound care),she displays “sound judgement which allows her to differentiate between medical and socialconcerns”. She has developed footcare clinics at the Alpha House and the Mustard Seed, andhelps clients with “other basic needs such as clean clothing and food”. “Bev embodies the truenursing spirit by assessing the client within the context of their lives and advocating for them sothat they are able to make positive health care changes”.This award was established by the Education Foundation in 1994 to honour Laura Crawfordfor her passionate commitment to excellence in nursing practice. Nominees must display exemplarynursing knowledge, promote an atmosphere of teamwork, advocate for the client, anddemonstrate a commitment to life-long learning. Laura was on hand to present the award.PAT FREDRICKSONEXCELLENCE IN LEADERSHIP AWARDVi Smith, Coordinator of the Practical NurseProgram at Bow Valley College (BVC), washonoured to be announced as the firstrecipient of the Pat Fredrickson Excellence inLeadership Award. Presented by Pat herself,this prestigious award comes at the peak of Vi’s41-year LPN career. Her nominators, IngeKovacs & Donna Adams, Leader Instructors ofthe Part-time Practical Nurse Program,enthused, “…we believe Vi is not only a nurse,but she exhibits talents of a ‘Great Nurse’.”Among her many accomplishments, she recentlyinitiated BVC’s “fast-track” practical nurseprogram to help address the health care shortagein the province.According to BVC, Vi was the very first LPN to work in an educator role either provincially ornationally. She has spent the last 25 years at BVC expanding the role of LPN as educator, firstas an Educational Assistant, then Instructor, Nursing Lab Leader, and now as Programcontinued next page