CONGRATULATIONS 2010 SHINING STAR AWARD WINNERS!


The presentation of Shining Star Awards was the highlight of the 2010 Annual Meeting & Spring Banquet, held May 6 at Shilshole Bay Beach Club in Seattle. KCNA presented two Shining Star Awards to members nominated by their peers as exceptional nurses:

Antwinett Lee, MSN, RN received her BSN from Michigan State University and her MSN from Seattle University. She has worked in Public Health and is currently working at Seattle University College of Nursing as Clinical Performance Lab Director and Instructor. She is an active volunteer with King County Nurses Association serving on the Board, Membership/PR and Program Committees. Antwinett is also President of the Mary Mahoney Professional Nurse Organization, an African American Reach and Teach Health Volunteer, mentor for nursing students and faculty, peer consultant for Seattle University Faculty, and Member-at-Large for the Washington State Nurses Association’s Health Care and Ethics Committee. On top of all that, Antwinett is also starting to work on her Doctorate in Education degree!
     According to the nominator, “As a Public Health Nurse with Seattle/King County Deperatment of Public Health, Antwinett looked for innovative ways to provide health education and care to populations that are marginalized in our society. When she became a supervisor for SKCDPH, she was always an advocate for nurses as well as for clients. She went beyond the mainstream role of supervisor and took the time and effort to do special activities to nurture her staff and support them in caring for themselves—knowing that as nurses we must take care of ourselves before we can take care of others. Her warm and kind guidance has never seemed authoritative—yet she always provided amazing leadership. She is now an instructor and leader in one of our major nursing education institutions, and continues to broaden the circle of people . . . positively influenced by her amazing nursing knowledge, strength and character. She is helping shape the future of nursing, instilling her professionalism, warmth and knowledge into the students who interact with her. When I think of Antwinett, I think of the image of ripples in a pond after a stone has been tossed into it--ripples that reach further and further to touch many people.”

Frankie Manning, RN, MAN recently retired as Associate Director for Nursing Services at the Veteran’s Administration, after 42 years of military service. She has been a tireless veterans’ advocate and senior leader at VA Puget Sound for the past 29 years. While in her position there, she: led the integration of the American Lake and Seattle Division; expanded access to veterans throughout the Puget Sound region through the development of Community Outreach Programs, Clinics, and Mobile Medical Units; developed the VA learning opportunity residency program for nursing students into a nationally recognized program; and consistently championed the nursing profession and the importance of quality patient care. What an impressive career!
     Frankie’s first nursing job was in Tulsa, Oklahoma, as a staff nurse on a medical-surgical ward for black patients. In the early 1970’s, she co-founded the Family Clinic Service for women and children to provide one-stop prevention services in the minority community of Wichita, Kansas.
     Frankie retired from the US Army in 2000, with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, after a military career in the Nurse Corps that spanned 22 years and led her to Witchita, Kansas, Iowa City, Iowa, Portland, Oregon and even Saudi Arabia!
In 2003, she was the recipient of the VA Secretary’s Award for Excellence in Nursing—the first of only six Nurse Executives to receive the award given by the Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs. In 2004 she was appointed by Governor Locke to serve as board member for a three-year term on the Washington State Board of Health, then asked by Governor Gregoire to stay on through 2011. In 2004 she was also selected as the first nurse to serve on the King County Board of Health, a position she holds until the end of 2010. In 2009 she was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award from Nurses Week magazine.
     Frankie currently serves on the KCNA Board of Directors and the Neighborhood Health Special Interest Group.