St. Luke’s Wood River Foundation Honors Nurses for Excellence
(Ketchum, ID) – The St. Luke’s Wood River Foundation’s Board of Directors and the Harvey Gray Family recently awarded the 2023 Carl A. Gray Memorial Award for nursing excellence. Each year the entire hospital staff nominates a nurse who exemplifies excellence in their nursing practice. The nursing staff then votes on the colleague, whom they believe is most deserving of recognition. This year, Jennifer Rablin, RN, ADN, was the staff’s clear choice to receive the excellence award.
Jennifer is an Assistant Nurse Manager on the Medical/Surgical, Mother/Baby and Emergency Department for night shifts and has been with St. Luke’s Wood River for almost 15 years, where she started as a Medical/Surgical Nurse. Jennifer has dedicated her entire career to nursing; she even worked as line chef to help pay her way through nursing school!
Her peers describe her as “a thoughtful, compassionate and skilled nurse with a wonderful calm nature.” Many emphasized this exceptional demeanor in stressful situations, commenting that her name on the schedule is always “a comfort” and that she is “a model of a nurse and leader.”
Jennifer’s colleagues also describe her qualities beyond the scope of patient care, including her exemplary skills as a manager and her strong relationships with employees. She supports “the entire hospital” and has a “gift for teaching.”
The presentation of the awards took place at The Mint in Hailey, providing an opportunity to recognize and celebrate each other. “It is wonderful to honor the work that our nurses do every day. Our nurses take on so many roles, never shying away from responsibility, stepping up to help their peers, and to advocate for their patients. They exhibit compassion as well as a desire to continually learn and to strive for the highest level of safety and quality in everything they do,” said Megan Tanous, St. Luke’s Wood River Foundation Chief Development Officer.
The Harvey Gray Family established the annual award in the Foundation to honor Carl A. Gray, who was an avid Sun Valley Ski Club member.
Awards of distinction were also given in specific areas of St. Luke’s core values. The honorees included Scott Kelly, RN, BSN – Admin Supervisor for Med/Surg, Mother/Baby and the Emergency Department, who was recognized for Integrity; Hadly Steel, RN, BSN, RNBC-AMB – SLWR Internal Medicine, for Compassion; Janet Barton, RN, BSN – Mother/Baby Unit, for Accountability; and Jennifer Merrick, RN, BSN, CAPA – PACU, for Respect.
