National Nursing Week: Celebrating Compassionate Care and Community Support

It’s National Nursing Week; a time to celebrate the hard work, determination, and compassionate care of nurses. Orillia Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital is proud to have hundreds of nurses dedicated to providing healthcare excellence when our patients need it most.  

Our nurses go above and beyond to support and advocate for our patients. They know firsthand how important it is to have the best equipment available for their patients. To show their commitment to care, many of our nurses are involved in the OSMH Foundation’s employee giving program. Being a part of the employee giving program means that our team members make donations off their pay towards important upgrades and advancements at their hospital.  

Krista Lovering, Program Director of Regional Kidney Care, Cancer Care, Genetics, and Medicine at OSMH, has been giving to OSMH since she started as a floor nurse.  

“For me, employee giving was a way to contribute on top of your day to day work,” she said. “It helps to make sure we can meet our patients needs on a bigger scale.” 

Krista was born at OSMH and believes that supporting her hospital is a great way to support her community.  

“I want to contribute to my community and donating to OSMH is a nice, easy thing for me to do.” 

Monika Black, RPN and Charge Nurse for OSMH’s Outpatient Department, also supports OSMH. As a nurse for over 25 years, she knows that supporting our hospital is one of the best ways to give back to our community.  

“I feel it’s important to give back because it’s a way to build our community,” Monika said. “This hospital has done much for me. It not only obviously has given me a job, but also provides a place for other people to come in and get taken care of. It’s a great hospital for our community, so that’s why I give back to it.”  

Being able to have equipment available when they need it helps our nurses provide healthcare excellence to their patients.  

“I think about all the equipment that I need to do my job on a daily basis,” she said. “It’s very beneficial that people are donating and helping us to reach our goals so we can provide the best care that we can for them.” 

Shantelle Pollon, Program Manager for Home Dialysis, Oncology, and Regional Genetics Program, has witnessed many OSMH nurses go above and beyond to provide great care to our patients. As a regional hospital, many people will travel to receive care at OSMH. On top of providing care, nurses have also purchased gas cards, food, and toiletries for patients in need out of their own pockets.  

As a manager, she gives back to provide support to the team members going above and beyond.  

“Both staff and patients benefit from those purchases being made through the OSMH Foundation,” she said. 

This week, and every week, we celebrate our nursing staff and their commitment to patient care. Donations to Orillia Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital Foundation show our team that our community appreciates the care they receive and values the hard work it takes to deliver healthcare excellence. Thank you to our nursing team for making a positive impact on the health and well-being of our communities.  

Would you like to thank a nurse for their commitment to supporting our communities? Make a donation to the Soldiers’ Honour program to recognize their hard work with a commemorative pin and certificate.